Chuck vs The New Girl
by HighwayStar76
Summary: When an op goes bad, Chuck deals with torture and death firsthand. While he deals with how the spy world has changed him, a new member of the team is brought in.
1. Chapter 1

A/N:_ This is my first attempt at writing a fanfic. I love reading the stories on here, so I figured I would give it a try. As for the story itself, I would say it takes place after 2.03. I will keep all before that canon, but the episodes after won't play a role in this story. It mostly just stays with Chuck, because I find he is easy to write. I won't try to develve into other's heads, because I won't pretend to know what they are thinking. My Chuck is more sarcastic than in the show, but that is probably my personality rubbing off on him. I won't promise Charah or anything, because I'm not sure I could write it well, and I can say that enjoy unhappy endings from time to time. Mistakes are all mine and reviews are welcome._

**Chuck vs. The New Girl**

Chapter 1

At 7:00 AM, the alarm clock on the night stand was buzzing, causing Chuck to wake, slowly roll over, and shut the machine off. He rolled back onto his back, wishing he didn't have to be up so early, last night's surveillance not ending until well after two. It was believed that a shipment of illegal weapons, and possibly some explosives were coming into town, but he didn't flash on anything or anyone he saw last night. He got out of bed, yawned, and groggily made his way over to the bathroom for a shower, hoping that the water would wake him up more effectively than the alarm had done.

Fifteen minutes later, he made it to his bedroom wearing only his towel. Chuck quickly got dressed in his Nerd Herd attire. After one quick look in the mirror, he thought about how this was going to be the outfit that he would be wearing the rest of his life. With no foreseeable plan for the Intersect to be removed, and have had recently received an update from Bryce, this did nothing to brighten his mood about the long shift he was going to have to work.

Chuck made his way over to his over to his desk in search of his Buy More ID, his keys, and his phone. He grabbed his ID and his keys, then just stared down at his phone. Atop it was the glasses Bryce left for him. He kept them not to remind him of Bryce, but rather of what he had promised Bryce he would do, "the right thing". Much to his chagrin, Bryce was right. He, Chuck, had to put a stop to the thing under cover thing. 'It's easier for the job,' he told himself.

Ever since his talk with Sarah, the two of them seemed to be ignoring each other more when they were alone. In front of Ellie and his friends, they acted like they always did. Chuck even became more relaxed in these settings, even though they still made him a little uncomfortable. Since there was no wondering whether or not it was real, it became less taxing worrying about what was too much, too real, or vice versa.

Before, it was easy to be around each other when they were alone, because they were friends. Now however, it seemed like so much of a chore. Chuck was intentionally trying to get her mad at him. 'It makes the job easier' was his rational. Their one on one dates for cover weren't any better, with very little talking, and after dinner, she would do reports, while he either read a book, played a video game, did anything to pass the time until she had to leave. Chuck was actually talking to Casey more now than when he was to her.

He shook his head at how much he hated "the right thing", grabbed his phone, and left his room. As he approached the kitchen, he heard voices talking excitedly. Then it hit him. Ellie and Awesome were going to the Bahamas for ten days of fun and sun. They asked him and Sarah to go, but he knew was out of the question. He doubted Sarah wanted to go, and even if she did, the government wouldn't let that happen, what with the protection of the Intersect compromised. Chuck sighed as he made his way into the kitchen.

"I'm so jealous that me and Chuck couldn't get the time off work to come too," Sarah whined, smiling at Chuck as he made his way for coffee. "Hey sweetie."

"Hi," Chuck said, giving her a quick smile before taking in a large amount of coffee in one swallow.

"I know it sucks," said Ellie, "but this was the only time Devon and I could get off together, so we have to go without you guys."

"Yeah," stated Devon, "but at least you guys get full reign of this place. The couch and shower are great places for 'fun', so feel free to have as much 'fun' as you guys want," he finished while giving Sarah a wink and Chuck a brotherly punch in the arm. Sarah giggled, while Chuck smiled uncomfortably.

"Devon!" Ellie exclaimed, slapping his arm.

"Well," said Chuck, quickly wanting to change the conversation, "when does your flight leave?"

Devon looked down at his watch. "In a few hours, which means we better get going," he said, looking at Ellie, and giving her a nod.

The foursome made their way to the doorway, exchanging hugs and kisses, with Devon telling Chuck other places around the apartment that could be 'fun'. Chuck and Sarah watched as Devon and Ellie got into their car and left. They waved at the car as it drove away. Chuck, still holding his coffee mug, made his way over to the kitchen sink to clean it quickly before he went to go to work.

"Chuck?"

He looked up. There eyes met and they just stared at each other. He couldn't get over how beautiful she was, even in just jeans and a t-shirt. She started to say something, stopped, then simply said, "Make sure you put your watch on."

Chuck looked down. He indeed wasn't wearing his watch. He looked up in time to see her close the door as she left. He thought about the Bryce, "the right thing", and said to himself 'it makes the job easier'. He went to his room, put the watch on, and made his way out to the Nerd Herder and on the way to work.

***

"Chuck!"

Chuck lifted his head up off the Nerd Herd desk. The morning shift at the Buy More had been unbelievably boring. No service calls, and surprisingly, Jeff and Lester had logged all their invoices, meaning that they were actually all caught up on work. Morgan hopped up on the desk while Chuck leaned back in his chair and tried to stifle a yawn.

"Dude, go take a nap or something, it is not like there is any work to do," Morgan quipped. "I was just sleeping in the home theater room. Why don't you go take my spot?"

"Nah, I'll make it, only a few more hours to go," Chuck replied.

Morgan looked down at his watch. "Man, the day really flies by when you sleep through work. Shouldn't you be headin' to your ladies for lunch right about now?"

Chuck looked at his watch. It was a little after 12:30. They usually had lunch between noon and one, and he always showed up at noon with the food. He sighed, realizing he was probably going to get a scolding for being late.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Am I detecting problems with the lady Chuckster?"

"What? No, nothing like that. I'm just late, and I know I'm gonna hear about it."

"Ah, I gotcha. Yeah, I try not to get Anna mad. I remember what she did to Mitt. Don't wanna be on the receiving end of that."

Chuck grinned at that statement, remembering it vividly. He walked out of the Buy More into the parking lot, looking at which restaurant in the plaza looked good. At a quick glance around, he decided pizza was a safe bet.

As he made his over to the pizzeria, he looked at every person he saw very closely. He was trying to flash on anything he could. Normally the missions weren't something he looked forward to, usually because he found a way to put himself in harms way, way too often. Now he dreaded the time in between mission. The time he and Sarah spent alone together was becoming something like a torture session. He recounted their last one in his head. Very little conversation, with him and Sarah each trying to say the least. They were at her place, so she decided to work out after she finished her work. Chuck wondered if was because she was trying to tease him by showing off skin and getting sweaty, but when he caught her looking at him, she then proceeded to nearly rip the heavy bag from the ceiling. He concluded that it was more out of anger. He wondered whether these lunches would get that bad. 'Makes the job easier' he told himself.

Before he knew it, he was walking into the Orange Orange carrying a small pepperoni pizza. Sarah looked up, and said matter-of-factly, "I thought you weren't showing up, so I already ate." She hadn't. She just hoped to get some type of response out of Chuck.

"Yeah, my bad. Lost track of time at work. You mind if I eat some of this here," he said, moving the box a little, "you know, for the cover. Wouldn't want people to think something was wrong."

She motioned to a table, as if to say, go ahead. Chuck pulled up a seat at the window, grabbed a slice, and looked out the window, willing himself to flash. He was tried of trying to act like he had just lost interest. It was one of the hardest things he'd ever done. He was hopelessly in love, but any admission would get her reassigned, and he didn't want that. She was the best agent the CIA had to offer, and he trusted her with his life. Being with her, no matter torturous the dates were, was better than if she was gone.

By the time he had finished, he had not looked at her once. Sarah was cutting up some bananas with extreme speed and viciousness. He grabbed the empty box, stood up and said, "Well, this has been fun." She looked up in annoyance, because lunch was anything but fun, and she was hungry, the smell of the pizza making it worse. But her pride wouldn't allow her to ask for a slice. He gave her a smile, and noted her jaw clenched and her hand gripped the knife even harder. Chuck decided it would be best to leave rather than linger.

Chuck knew he'd been an ass, but if this was the only way to do "the right thing", then so be it.

As he resumed his post behind the Nerd Herd desk, he couldn't help but feel a bit ashamed of himself. He hated acting the way he did to Sarah, but it 'made the job easier.' He kept saying it, realizing everyday he was saying it more and more, and believing it less and less.

Just as Chuck was getting ready clock out, his iPhone began to vibrate. He grabbed it and saw that it was Sarah. He swallowed, contemplating whether or not to answer. He decided he might as well take the verbal abuse now rather than later, so he answered. "Hey, what's going on?"

"Chuck, you wanna come by my place around 7:00 tonight?" He noted she didn't sound angry, but it was impossible to tell, especially over the phone.

"Oh? I didn't think we had a date tonight?"

"We don't, but we need to talk." She sounded serious.

"Is it about a mission or something, should I bring Casey?"

"Just come over." She sounded irritated as hung up.

7:00 seemed to arrive a lot faster than Chuck anticipated. He remembered getting home, playing a little Call of Duty and before he knew it he only had a half hour to get ready. After a hurried shower, he quickly got dressed, throwing on a pair of blue jeans and a white polo, grabbed his keys and was on his way.

Chuck seemed to get more anxious the closer he got to Sarah's apartment. He wasn't sure why they were meeting. No Awesome or Ellie at home, so no need to protect their cover. No mission, so there no briefing or planning that needed to be done. He concluded that it was going to be about Chuck's behavior. He had been acting differently since their talk on the fountain, he knew that, and so did she. 'Must be she doesn't like the new Chuck,' he thought.

He walked down the hall and stopped just before her door, took a huge breath, then knocked. He was smiling politely when she opened the door. She let him inside, but didn't return the smile. He sarcastically thought, 'well, this is gonna be a fun evening.' He took a seat on the edge of her bed while she took a chair near the window. They stared at each other for a full minute, neither one really wanting to start the conversation they were about to have. He noticed that even in sweatpants and one of his old t-shirts, he still looked gorgeous.

"Chuck."

"Present," he replied, giving her a grin. Her jaw clenched.

"Chuck, we need to talk about your behavior." He noted how she was trying be professional like Sarah the agent, when it was really Sarah the girl who wanted this talk.

"What about it?" he asked.

"Why are you acting like this?"

"Like what?"

"Like this. Being an ass to me when we are alone. Barely talking, or talking only to make quips. Doing things that annoy me. Like today at lunch. That sarcastic comment followed by your little smile right before you left. It's been going on ever since you decided we can't be together."

He licked his lips, deciding how best to answer. "Well," he paused. 'She won't buy this, and I'm not even sure I do,' he thought. "Umm, I've been 'acting'," he used air quotes, "this way because I figured it would make your job easier, you know, protecting me and whatnot."

"How would that make it easier?" asked Sarah, confused as all hell.

"Well, you see, I figured the best way for you to do your job is to be like Casey." She looked even more confused. "See, Casey doesn't worry about me, he worries about the Intersect. I figured that if I created some separation between us, you would act more like Casey."

"I don't wanna act like Casey," she protested. "Doing things by the book doesn't necessarily make them easier. Having me wanna kill you sometimes doesn't make it easier. I don't like this new Chuck. I like the old Chuck, the one I was friends with."

'Friends,' Chuck thought bitterly, 'just friends, nothing more.' He spoke heatedly, "Look, this way is just easier. No more personal feelings getting in the way of missions. No more mixed signals between us. Just the job. Nothing more, nothing less. No more trying to get you to..." he stopped, realizing he had gone too far. She was looking at him, but he couldn't meet her gaze. He looked away.

It dawned on her. She knew he was crazy about her. He was always trying to win her over, be charming, but she resisted. He took what he said about never being able to be together as an opportunity to try and distance himself from her, to make it easier for him to be around her. If she hated him, he would never get the mixed signals she knew she was always sending him. She reached and took his hand in hers. "Chuck." She spoke softly. "Chuck, listen, I know..."

He stood up and broke the connection of their hands. "No, this way is easier. No more time together, other than what is necessary for our cover. It makes the job easier." He turned and walked towards the door. He had to leave. He knew he would give in to her eventually, because he loved her. It would be like before, with him always pining after her, and never getting anywhere.

"Chuck, wait." Sarah said, rising from her chair.

"No, I'm sorry, I gotta go." He was trying to get out of there as fast as possible. It was too hard to be around her, to lie about why he was acting the way he was. He had been lying to himself, saying it was for the missions. It was just too hard to be around her, knowing it was never going to go anywhere.

Sarah ran at him and pinned him to the door as he attempted to open it.

"Ow, ow, that hurts."

"Sorry," she said as she turned him around. They were face to face, just staring at each other. She really wanted to kiss, but the agent side of her told her not to. Chuck saw the hesitation in her eyes, and just gave her a look that implied 'this is exactly what I'm talking about'.

She noted his look, and backed up, continuing to stare at him. She was breathing heavily, not realizing she had been holding her breath when deciding whether or not to kiss him. He just shook his head. "You see, it's just easier."

She knew he was right. But she didn't care. She wanted more than the what their cover was going to offer. So she rushed him and mashed their lips together. Chuck was unprepared and nearly knocked over. He wanted to kiss back, to let her know how he really felt, but something in the back of his mind just wouldn't let him. She kept kissing but he wouldn't respond.

"Sar.." Kiss.

"Sar.." Another kiss.

Finally, he grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back. Looking into her eyes, he said, "Sarah, no. You do this now, but a week from now, it'll be, 'Chuck, we can't, I'm your handler and you're my asset.' So, no."

Sarah knew he was right. She would do this now, call it a mistake later, and leave him hope of a future that seemed impossible. Her eyes started to well up with tears, but she turned around so he couldn't see. Chuck sighed, and opened the door. "Good-bye Sarah."

She went to her bed and started crying softly, while Chuck went down to the Nerd Herder, convincing himself he did the right thing. Not only had he slammed the door on a future together, he also ended their friendship, or whatever the hell it was.

Just as he was getting into the Nerd Herder, a black SUV pulled up in the spot next to him. A man of about 35 got out. He was about Chuck's size and build, with short black hair, black eyes, and had a five o'clock shadow going. He looked at Chuck and Chuck felt the feelings of a flash coming. The intensity with which the rush of information and pictures came nearly floored him. The man, whose name was Carmine Soto, looked at him strangely and Chuck gave him a weak smile before getting into his car. The flash showed that the man was an arms importer, funding terrorists, and had recently got into dealing C-4 and other high grade explosives. He was the guy that was bringing in the guns and explosives. Chuck watched him walk away.

"Aww, great," said Chuck sarcastically, as he realized the man was heading into Sarah's hotel. "Just great."


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Thanks for all the the reviews, the good and the bad. I'm just happy people read the story. I'm not very good at coming up with names, which is why sometimes I use them. Also, if reasons for a mission sound cheesy and contrived, then they probably are. It's too time consuming for me to come with intricate plots for these evil-doers in my story, so bear with me. Moderate violence in the story, so keep that in mind. Enjoy. Also, all mistakes are mine, sorry about that._

**Chuck vs. The New Girl**

Chapter 2

Chuck reached into his pocket and grabbed his phone. His first instinct was to call Sarah, but considering what had just transpired between them, he rather called up John Casey.

"What, Bartowski?" was Casey's answer. He sounded his usual angry self whenever Chuck called.

"Hey, Casey, it's Chuck. Yeah, I just flashed on this guy, Carmine Soto, weapons importer, supports terrorists."

"Chuck, where are you?" He sounded tense, and Chuck thought he heard a 'click' of Casey getting his gun ready.

"Umm, outside Sarah's apartment complex. Look, his truck is parked right next to my Nerd Herder. A black SUV."

"Alright, I'll be over as fast as I can to a plant a bug on it. This guy is big time Chuck. Intel shows he has a shipment coming in tonight. He might be meeting his buyer at the hotel. Call Sarah and try to flash on who he meets with."

Chuck quickly hung up and then dialed Sarah. 'Come on pick up, pick up, pick up,' he thought as it continued to ring. He got her voicemail. "Dammit," he muttered to himself. He ran into the hotel lobby to see if he could find Soto. He found Soto sitting at a booth in the lobby bar. Chuck took a seat about 30 feet away. Soto was still alone, sipping what looked like a scotch on the rocks. Chuck tried Sarah again, but again got her voicemail. 'Dammit,' he thought, 'she won't take my calls. Awesome!' He sent her a text, hoping she would at least read it. 'Sar, flashed on baddie, in lobby bar, hurry!' He tried to remain inconspicuous, but being the only one not in a suit, he stood out. A waitress came up, so he ordered a drink.

He kept looking around for Sarah, but she had not appeared. 'Where are you, Sarah?', he kept thinking. After 20 minutes, he saw a group of men come in. He immediately flashed on all of them. The man leading the group was Abu Fayed, respected businessman in the LA area, but who also had ties linking him to homegrown terror cells. The rest were his bodyguards. Chuck got up quickly and left the bar, heading out into the main lobby to call Casey. He didn't notice that Soto saw his less than stealthy exit, and had some of his men quickly follow him.

"Chuck, what is it?"

"Umm, Soto is meeting with Abu Fayed. He supports homegrown terror cells. I think this shipment will give them the firepower need to have a largescale attack on US soil. What do you want me to do?"

"You, where is Walker?"

"I don't know, she isn't answering her phone and..." He stopped stop when he felt the tip of a gun being pushed into his back. "Chuck, Chuck answer me, dammit," could be heard from the phone he was holding.

"Give me that," said the man behind Chuck softly. Chuck handed him the phone and the man ended the call, with Casey's yells getting angrier and profanity laced before it became silent. "Please come with me."

They walked out of the lobby into the parking area. "Hey," said Chuck, "if you want my wallet, it's all yours, but there ain't much in there in the way of cash, just so you know."

The man didn't respond, instead he just led them to Soto's SUV. The man took his gun and used the butt of it to hit Chuck on the back of the head, knocking him out. He unceremoniously threw Chuck in the back, binding his hands and feet, then closed the back hatch.

***

Casey pulled up to Chuck's car ten minutes later, but the SUV was already gone. "Dammit," he growled. He ran inside to see if Chuck or Soto was there, but he couldn't find them. His growl became almost a guttural roar. He decided to make his way to Walker's room, almost hoping Chuck and Walker were in the 'throes of passion' and that was the reason Chuck wouldn't answer his calls. He pounded on the door, and a surprised Sarah Walker, with red eyes, opened the door in a robe and was toweling off her hair. Casey didn't seem to notice that she had been crying.

"Casey, what are you doing here?" she asked, trying her best to look composed.

He grunted as he stepped into her room, noticing Chuck was not anywhere in sight. "Chuck's been taken," he spat nastily, "something that shouldn't have happened if you bothered to check your damn phone." He picked it up off the bed and threw it at her. She looked and saw the missed calls and the text.

"No, Chuck," she said softly, fear filling her face.

"Get ready, and I'll do a trace on Chuck. I think they prolly took him to the pier, since the shipment is coming in tonight. Let's pray your boy can hold out long enough until we get there," Casey said, getting angrier at her for just staring at the phone. "Walker!" he yelled. That seemed to trigger a response.

She quickly went from concerned cover girlfriend to agent in a nanosecond. "Go to Castle and get the gear, and call in a tactical team for support. See you there in five." Casey ran out the door, noting that it was a ten minute drive at least, and that she might beat him there. He pulled out his GPS locator on Chuck, and saw that he was indeed at the pier, and was stationary. He shook his, knowing Chuck was about to or already was being tortured. "Hang in there kid," he said to himself.

***

Chuck awoke very slowly. The back of his head was throbbing, and judging by how wet his hair felt, he was bleeding from his wound. He tried to move, but realized his arms and legs were tied to each arm and leg in the chair he occupied. He slowly opened his eyes and analyzed the situation. He saw that he was in a small, rectangular metal box, and knew it was a shipping container. He also heard some men conversing quietly at the other of the container. He struggled against his binding, and noticed the right arm of his wooden chair was loose. He also had his watch on. 'They're tracking me, I just gotta act like a real spy for bit. Endure some torture, no problem,' he sarcastically thought. He wasn't sure why he talked to himself with sarcasm. Maybe it was to try not to focus on what was about to come.

"Ah, someone is finally awake," said a cold voice. A flood light came on and filled the shipping container with light. There were three men standing in front of Chuck: Soto, Fayed, and some random muscle man. Chuck saw a small table about a foot away in front and to the right of him. On it were various knives and other sharp looking objects that he didn't want near his body. Chuck looked at them, and swallowed hard. The three men chuckled at his actions.

"Yes, I see you are aware of what awaits you," said Soto. "You see, we have some questions, and with time being of the essence, we won't beat around the bush." He nodded to the muscle, who moved up to Chuck's left and punched him hard in the face. Chuck let out a grunt of pain, wondering whether the man had just broken his cheekbone.

"What was that for? You didn't even ask a question," Chuck stammered.

Soto nodded again and the man punched Chuck hard again. Chuck let escape another moan of pain, while his vision became a little blurry. He kept opening and closing his eyes trying to get his bearings straight.

"Now, down to business. Your name?"

"You already have my wallet, just look for yourself," Chuck quipped. He knew he was dead if he talked. Chuck was punched once again, this time feeling his nose break. Blood started pouring down over and into his mouth freely. He spat some onto the floor.

"Who do you work for?"

"The Buy More. Nerd Herd Supervisor." That earned him a punch to the gut that took the wind out of him causing him to bend over in pain. He also took another punch to the left side of his face causing him and the chair to tip over. As he hit the ground with a thud, he felt the arm of the chair break free. As he looked up, he saw the muscle standing over him. The muscle gave him a few brutal kicks to the ribs. Chuck noted how hard the boots were as he was sure they broke some of his ribs. 'Steel toed,' he thought, 'how lovely.'

The chair was set back up, and Chuck noticed that each breath was agony. 'Broken ribs for sure, hopefully not a punctured lung,' he thought to himself. He looked down and saw that his watch was broke. He really started to panic, knowing that Casey and Sarah couldn't pinpoint his location now. 'What am I gonna do now?' he wondered, knowing that end was indeed drawing near.

***

"Dammit!" Casey growled. "The GPS in Chuck's watch went out." He, Sarah, and their team were on the pier and were making it to his location, weapons drawn.

"Well, where was the signal coming from?" Sarah asked frantically. 'I have to save Chuck' she though,' it's my fault he is in this mess.'

Casey looked at his GPS locator. "I don't know for sure, somewhere in that direction," he said, pointing towards a mass of shipping containers. "He could be in any of those. I just don't know."

***

"Enough playing around," said Soto calmly. He nodded to the muscle, who made his way over to the table covered with various instruments, all of which could inflict great pain and bodily damage. The muscle picked up a seven inch blade. He walked over to Chuck, looked down at him and grinned. Chuck closed his eyes and turned away, waiting for the pain.

Chuck's yells filled the container as the muscle made a shallow, diagonal cut from Chuck's left shoulder over to his right peck. He moved the blade very slowly, making sure Chuck could feel every inch of movement the blade made. Chuck gripped the wood so hard his knuckles turned white, but noticed he could separate the right arm of the chair from what it was attached to.

"Should he do that again, or will you answer my questions?" asked Soto. He looked at Chuck expectantly, but Chuck was in too much agony to hear the question. Soto nodded to his henchman again, but a knock at the container got their attention. It even allowed Chuck to focus somewhat. 'Now's your chance, the chair arm is broke, grab a weapon.' While Soto, Fayed, and the muscle went to the door, Chuck managed to free his right arm from the chair. He grabbed the nearest thing on the table, which was a three inch knife, much like those that Sarah threw, that was sharp as a razor. He quickly covered up the knife in his hand as he returned his arm back to the chair.

"Well, it appears our cargo has arrived," said Soto cheerfully. "Have some fun with him while we get this business transaction taken care of." He nodded to the muscle, as he and Fayed left the container.

'Now's my chance,' thought Chuck. He was bracing himself for what he had to do, because he knew he had no choice. The muscle stood over Chuck, and smiled as he placed the blade at Chuck right shoulder. "Ready?" said the muscle. Chuck was looking down into his lap, readying himself for action.

"Yep," Chuck replied, gritting his teeth.

Chuck quickly moved his knife into his hand and thrust it into the side of the muscle's neck. The muscle looked shocked, not sure of what had just happened. Chuck pulled the knife towards himself, knowing he was severing the muscle's carotid artery and jugular vein.

When the knife came free, the muscle moved his hand to stem the flow of blood that was covering Chuck's entire front, but it was no use. The muscle fell to his knees, and Chuck watched as life faded from the man's eyes until he was on his back, dead.

Chuck was shocked for a second, realizing that he had just killed someone. And he killed him in a truly horrific way. He was so shocked he didn't even register he was covered in blood. He moved his right hand to the cut his bindings, but a terrible pain caused him to stop. He looked down and, to his surprise, saw the seven inch blade the muscle had been using was lodged into him, right by his armpit. He was unaware that the muscle had stabbed him as Chuck killed him. He gripped it as tightly as he could, clenched his teeth and pulled it out. He cried out in anguish as the blade was removed. Trying to focus, he used to the blade to cut his bindings. It was difficult because his hands were shaking so bad.

With he bindings cut, he stood up. It was only then did he realize how much pain he was in. His whole head was throbbing, like it had been cleaved in two. He could only take shallow breaths because his ribs were busted up. Any upper body move was pain because of the cut on his chest and his armpit was bleeding furiously. 'Well, this is fine mess you've gotten yourself in,' he thought to himself.

Chuck felt himself becoming weaker with each passing second. He had to stay awake, he had to move, but the injuries he sustained were clouding his judgment. His vision was blurred, his movement slow, and he losing a lot of blood. He told himself, 'Five minutes. You have make it five more minutes and they will find you.' He walked over to the table, but found nothing that would help him. He walked back over to the muscle, and gently rolled him over while trying not to look at him. He saw the man had a handgun in the back of his pants. Chuck took it, cocked it, and clicked off the safety. He had seen Casey and Sarah do it enough to wear it wasn't that difficult for him.

Chuck opened the container door slowly and looked around. He saw two men with AK-47s. They spotted him as he took off running for cover behind a shipping container.

***

As Casey, Sarah, and the team carefully maneuvered though the shipping yard, the sound of automatic gunfire ripped through the quiet night.

"Chuck!" Sarah screamed, running towards the direction of the gunfire, 200 yards to their right.

"Walker, stop!" yelled Casey, as two pops followed by more automatic fire filled his ears. 'Bartowski's got a gun, he's still alive!' thought Casey. "Alright team, move out, we have an agent under duress!" ordered Casey.

***

Chuck dove behind a cargo container, and listened as the bullets peppered the metal. He tried to get up, but couldn't stand. The dive seemed to drain the last of his energy. He moved his way so that he was sitting with his back leaning against his metal protector. He looked down and saw he had taken a round in the thigh. 'Great, can this night get any better.'

Chuck thought he heard a scream after he was shot at, but couldn't be sure. Hoping beyond hope that it was Sarah, he fired two rounds into the air, praying he was giving Casey and Sarah a chance to locate him. His shots caused his enemies to fire back, hitting the cargo container with more bullets.

He sat there waiting, out of breath, in pain, ready for it to end, one way or the other. He had the gun on his lap, waiting for some sign of movement. It was getting harder to stay conscious. He'd lost a lot of blood, and would pass out pretty soon because of it. 'Please find me Sarah,' he thought.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement to his left. He instinctively raised the gun and pointed in that direction, ready to fire.

***

Sarah, having heard to the two pops from the handgun, knew Chuck was alive. She made her way stealthily to where he was. She moved around the corner of one container. The clouds moved overhead to reveal the moon. The moonlight lit up the trail of blood that Chuck had left. She slowly made her way to him by following it.

In the shadows, she saw a body sitting against a cargo container. It wasn't moving. She made her way closer, fearing that it was Chuck and that he was dead, and saw that the body raised a gun and pointed it at her.

"Chuck?" she called softly.

The body lowered the gun.

"Sarah," he said quietly, feeling relieved.

She made her way to him, noting how quiet his voice was. She nearly shuddered when she saw him. His entire front, face, shirt, jeans, were covered in blood.

"Casey, I've found him, move to my location. Bring emergency personnel here, he's hurt bad."

"Roger that."

She moved closer to get a better look. She saw the left side of his face was black and blue, and that his nose was probably broke. She saw the cut across chest, as well as the stab wound by his shoulder. Then she saw the bullet wound in the leg. She couldn't believe he was still alive.

"Oh my god, Chuck!" She was nearly in tears at the sight of him. "You're covered in blood!"

"Hey, don't worry. It's not all mine." He sounded weak, and gave her a small grin. He knew he had been saved.

She was so worried about Chuck, she didn't even notice Casey and the team had found them.

"Holy shit!" Casey exclaimed, taking in the sight of Chuck. Sarah was doing her best to treat his injuries, but he didn't look.

"Casey, they're unloading the ship," Chuck said thickly. It was getting harder to keep his eyes open. "You gotta stop 'em Casey. Go get 'em."

Sarah had begun trying to stem the bleeding for the stab wound and bullet wound. She figured Chuck had lost a lot of blood. Noting how weak and tired he sounded, they didn't have long.

"Alright. You two," he pointed at two of his team at random, "stay here was with Agents Walker and Carmichael. The rest of you, follow me!" He went around the corner of the container and off into the darkness.

"Sarah," Chuck said weakly, "go. You have to help Casey."

"No, Chuck, you're my priority." She continued to perform triage on his wounds. She was doing her best to keep her composure, but it wasn't working. He started to fade out of consciousness. "Chuck, stay with me. Chuck. CHUCK!" His chin fell to his chest.

Finally, the medical team arrived.

"He needs blood," said Sarah frantically as the medical team put him on a stretcher. They picked him up, and started to run towards the ambulance that was waiting for them. Sarah, as well as the two guards Casey made stay, accompanied them.

Once Chuck was loaded into the ambulance, the team went to work on him. Sarah stood outside the ambulance, watching in horror. She prayed that Chuck would make it and that she could be honest with him about her feelings. She needed to let him know how she felt.

"Start an IV and blood," one EMT said.

Once the heart monitors hooked up, they looked at how rapid and weak his pulse was.

"We need to leave, now!" the other EMT said. "He could go into cardiac arrest. He needs a hospital."

The EMT quickly shut the doors and the ambulance took off. Sarah started sobbing, not knowing whether she would ever see Chuck alive again.

Just then, sounds of a firefight started near the docks. Automatic gunfire, accompanied by several explosions, rocked the warm, still air of night.

_A/N: I don't know a great deal about medicine, so I don't know if that would actually happen to Chuck. But hey, it seemed exciting at the time._


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Well, the story continues. I hope you enjoy. Sorry if medical jargon is wrong. I did the best I could with what I know. Mistakes are all mine.  
_

**Chuck vs. The New Girl**

Chapter 3

Chuck awoke feeling warm and fuzzy. He didn't want to open his eyes; he was still tired. He had no idea where he was. He went to open his eyes, but found that only his right eye would. Using his one eye, he was able to discern that he was in a hospital room. While wiping the sleep from his eye, he saw the IV in his right arm, and was then able to feel it. He looked at his saline drip and grinned. He felt funny.

Chuck started to look at his own body. It was then he saw how bad of shape he was in. He left thigh was wrapped up, along with his midsection and right shoulder. He saw the long cut on his chest was stitched up, and then it hit him. The container, the torture, the murder. He then felt his face. The left side of his face was swollen, and his left eye was swollen shut. He felt around his cheek. He didn't feel anything. So he pushed again. Still no pain. He grinned stupidly again. 'Morphine,' he thought. It was almost worth the torture for the feeling it gave him.

Just then, Sarah and a doctor walked in. Sarah looked at him with a mixture of sadness and guilt. She was carrying a glass of water, while the doctor had a clipboard with Chuck's chart on it.

"Hey Sarah," he said in a raspy voice. He noticed her look. "Hey, don't worry, I feel great. I can't feel a thing. Look, see." He started pushing on his swollen face.

"Chuck, stop that," Sarah said in a motherly tone, grabbing his hand away from his face. She didn't let go of it. Noticing his voice, she gave him a drink of water, which he gladly accepted.

"I'm Dr. Macefield," said the doc. He was probably around 35 years old, going bald with brown hair, and had blue eyes that were hidden behind his horn rimmed glasses. He had a round midsection and a jovial face, which went well with his friendly personality. "I work for the CIA, and was assigned to your case."

"Hey doc," said Chuck enthusiastically, waving at him.

"Well, let's take a look, shall we," said the doctor. He started looking over Chuck's many injuries. "So, this is the famous Agent Carmichael." The doc grinned as he said it.

Chuck grinned back sheepishly. "Yeah, I've done it all. Flew a helicopter, disarmed a bomb, jumped from a roof, and," he lowered his voice to a whisper to make sure Sarah didn't hear him, "killed someone." Chuck was still smiling. He looked over at Sarah, but she wasn't smiling, just looking at him, eyes full of sadness, still holding his hand.

Sarah, noting Chuck's odd demeanor, asked Dr. Macefield, "Is there a reason he's acting so," she paused looking for the right word, "goofy?" She was a little worried.

"No, no problem at all. Nurses just gave him a bit too much morphine. I'll lower his doses, but considering what he went through, I think he deserves it." Dr. Macefield finished writing on his clipboard. "Well, Agent Carmichael, you had quite the evening. The bullet wound to the leg was just a ricochet. It didn't penetrate too deep and has been stitched up. Got some bruised and broken ribs, although there was no damage to the lungs or pleura, so that's good. The gash across the chest was stitched and cleaned, so it shouldn't become infected. The blow to the head was stapled shut and you only have a slight concussion. Now your face. As bad as it looks..."

"Hey, are you saying I'm ugly?" asked Chuck, still grinning.

Dr. Macefield laughed, while Sarah even managed to crack a grin.

"No, nothing like that," Dr. Macefield replied, as he continued to chuckle, "It's that despite what happened, you only broke your nose. The eye socket was undamaged, and once the swelling goes down you should have normal sight and look your usual debonaire self." He gave Chuck a wink, and Chuck responded with a silly grin.

"Lastly," Dr. Macefield continued, "the stab wound to your shoulder. It nicked your axillary artery. Luckily, one of the EMTs spotted it, and clamped it before it was repaired in surgery. That was the main reason for all the blood loss. It's a good thing you got here as fast as you did."

Sarah started to get misty eyed as she cataloged all of Chuck's injuries, and of how close to death he really was. She looked away from him and stared out into the sunrise. She was an agent, taught how to deal with pain and death, but for someone like Chuck, she wasn't sure how he would respond.

Dr. Macefield went and turned down the morphine, and then said to Chuck, "Why don't you get some more rest. Afterwords, you and your lovely partner can have lunch together."

Chuck smiled and looked at Sarah. "It's a date."

Sarah, thinking about there last few cover dates, only managed a weak smile.

***

Chuck woke this time with a start. He'd had a nightmare. He was breathing heavily, covered in sweat. He tried to control his breathing, because the deep breaths were hurting. He also noticed the dull throbbing of his entire head. He knew the doctors had lowered the morphine. He sighed, closed his eyes, but abruptly opened them.

The images of the of nightmare seemed to be painted on the inside of his eyelids. It was basically of a replay of what had happened to him in the container box. It was so vivid, so real. The last he remembered, he was standing over the muscle's dead body smiling, when the muscle smiled back and said, "I killed you too," which caused Chuck to wake.

The more Chuck thought about it, the more he found it was true. His innocence, his good nature, everything that made Chuck who he was died in there. All that was left was an agent doing all he could to survive. Chuck wanted to scream, to yell, to lament his loss. But a couple voices speaking animatedly in the hallway got his attention. He looked over at the cracked door of his hospital room started to listen.

***

"General wants a briefing with him," said Casey

"Hasn't he been through enough? He doesn't need to relive it," said Sarah heatedly. She had her hands on her hips, looking very angry at Casey.

"Look, I agree. But orders are orders. And we need to know what he said, if he compromised himself."

"I know, but can't I talk to him? He'll need a supportive ear, and I don't think Beckman will give him that," Sarah replied.

"Look, I gave Beckman the preliminary report. He survived torture, turned a guy into a pez dispenser, helped stop the sale of weapons and explosives, and with the information we got from those thugs that were taken alive, were able to take out several terror cells in the area. Beckman realizes the importance of having him in the field. She just wants to know that he can handle it."

"How will she determine that?" Sarah asked skeptically. "Just by listening to him to retell it?"

"No, he'll have to talk to a CIA shrink I'm sure. This is just so she can get a read on him for herself."

Back in his room, Chuck listened to them, taking in every word. He was going to have to tell Beckman what had happened. He figured he would have to do that already. But she wanted him kept in the field. This meant more missions, more danger, more killing. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. The alternative of being sent to a bunker crept into this thoughts. He thought over all his options, and how they would affect those closest to him. After laying there for five minutes contemplating all the actions he could take, he made his decision. 'Yep,' he told himself, 'that's the only way.' He knew what he had to do.

"Hey," Chuck called out.

Sarah and Casey both came in the door. Sarah immediately went to his side, taking his hand. Casey stood at the foot of the bed. "How you feeling kid?" he asked sympathetically. It sounded weird to hear Casey be nice, especially to Chuck.

"Oh, I've been better," Chuck said airily, acting as if all he had done was sprain his ankle. "Nothing a little R and R won't fix." Sarah gripped his hand tight, relieved that the old Chuck was back, and that this hadn't permanently changed him. "So, if we are gonna do this, can I go to the bathroom first?" Chuck asked.

"Do what?" asked Sarah, confused.

"Well, I figure you'll need to know what happened to me? So let's do this. I wanna get it over with as fast as possible. But first," he said sitting up slowly and swinging his legs over the end of bed, "I need to pee."

"Are you sure you should be moving around?" asked Sarah, worried he might take a spill.

"Well, I don't have a catheter stuck up my, well, you know, so they must feel I can get up and move. Someone just help me on my left side, and I'll just hold on to this thing," he said shaking what was holding his IV.

Sarah quickly moved quickly to his left and put her arm around him.

"Not too tight, now," Chuck said, smiling at her, "I'm pretty tender."

They slowly made their way to the bathroom, Chuck wincing with every step. It hurt, but it was definitely manageable. Chuck heard Casey smirk when he made it to the bathroom, and he realized his ass was exposed. He looked at Sarah, but see seemed focus on getting him to bathroom and hadn't noticed. Chuck shook his head, adding, "Like what you see, Casey?"

"You wish, Bartowski."

Sarah, picking up on what they were saying, had an intense battle of wills on whether or not to sneak a peek.

"I'll set a meeting with Beckman for an hour from now," Casey said as he left the room.

As Chuck exited the bathroom, Sarah grabbed a hold of him to keep him steady when Dr. Macefield walked in. He chuckled as he said, "You know, you two should try to temper the passions just a little bit. You need to rest to recover, Agent Carmichael." He was laughing.

"What can I say? I'm a sucker for some afternoon delight," replied Chuck with a grin. Dr. Macefield was laughing harder, while all Chuck got from Sarah was a dirty look. "Oh come on, that was kinda funny, wasn't it?" Chuck asked her, giving her the puppy dog look. Her resolve crumbled and she smiled at him.

"I guess," she replied, "Just don't expect any when we get back home." She was grinning, loving that the joking, fun Chuck had returned. She couldn't believe he was handling all this so well.

He gave her a big frown. "Oh well, your loss I guess." They stared at each other, but Chuck cracked first and was laughing. Sarah soon followed suit. Chuck winced a little as the laughing got a bit to hardy.

Dr. Macefield was just grinning. He enjoyed watching two people who were in love interact this way. Lots of them were always kissy faced and trying to be overly sweet all the time. But these two reminded him of him and his wife. Always joking, always having fun with one another.

With Chuck back in bed, and Sarah at his side holding his hand, Dr. Macefield spoke. "Well, you seem to be moving okay, albeit a little slow. We'll keep you overnight for observation, but you should be good to go tomorrow morning."

"Sweet," replied Chuck. Having Ellie as a sister meant he spent a lot more time at hospitals than most people, and was ready to leave.

Dr. Macefield, looking at Sarah, said, "Try not to be too rough on him." He chuckled at Sarah's grin, and he turned to leave.

Chuck called out, "Don't worry. She always make me do all the work."

Dr. Macefield let out a hardy chuckle as Sarah scolded, "Chuck!" and playfully swat his arm. Both of them were grinning at each other. Chuck's stomach started to rumble, to which Sarah responded, "I believe we had a lunch date planned." She was smiling radiantly at him, believing things were finally back to normal.

***

As Casey was finishing setting up the teleconference with General Beckman, Chuck was finishing up his lunch. Although hospital food wasn't the greatest, it did the job of satiating Chuck's hunger.

Sarah spoke, "Your cover is that you were mugged. That's what we told the Buy More and your sister. Ellie wanted to come home, but I convinced her you were in goods hands," she finished, grabbing his hand in both of hers. He smiled at her. She continued, "I think some of the guys from Buy More might stop by tonight, but I'll be here with you all night." She squeezed his hand. "And don't even try to tell me not too. I want too."

"Here we go," chimed Casey, as General Beckman popped up on the screen that had been set up in front of Chuck's bed.

"Just tell her the truth, Chuck. No more, no less," said Sarah. She knew she was in trouble. She just wasn't sure how much. She could easily be reassigned for failing to protect Chuck. She hoped for just a good verbal lashing. Either way, she had already decided she wasn't leaving Chuck.

"Hello team," Beckman called. "How are you feeling Mr. Barwtoski?"

"I've been better, to be honest," Chuck answered truthfully.

"Let's get right to the point. Why were you allowed to be taken? Where was Agent Walker? The asset was taking from your hotel lobby, correct?" Beckman demanded from Sarah.

"Yes he w..." started Sarah

Chuck interrupted her. "General. I went to Sarah's room that night out of boredom. I wanted to see if she wanted to do something. Everyone at my place is gone. When I got there, she had just finished up a workout. She said that since my sister was gone, there was no need for a cover date. She explained how she was tired and needed a shower, and truthfully, she did kinda have a funk."

Sarah was in shock. Chuck was lying to protect her. She couldn't let him do that. It was supposed to be the other way around. Chuck noticed that Sarah was going to chime in, so he squeezed her hand to let her know not to interrupt. Beckman had eyes only for Chuck, so it went unnoticed by her, but not Casey, who couldn't believe what Chuck was doing, given the recent attitude he had heard Chuck giving her.

"As I was leaving, I flashed on Soto. I called Casey, and reported it. He was on his way over, so I called Sarah and wanted her to meet me in lobby so we could watch to see if he was contacting his buyer. She must have been in the shower, because she didn't answer my calls. I left her messages telling her what was happening. I waited for her, but I saw Soto's buyer before she could arrive. Once I identified Fayed, I left and called Casey to let him know. As I was leaving, one of Soto's men grabbed me."

Chuck started to tell Beckman, in detail, of the events that took place in the container. Sarah's eyes became watery when Chuck told of how he was beaten and tortured. She was squeezing his hand so hard it hurt. He lost his nerve a little bit when he describing his killing of the muscle. Once he was finished, Casey filled Beckman in on what happened on the docks, but Chuck wasn't really paying attention. Instead he looked at Sarah, and saw how much guilt and pain she was in. He knew she shouldn't suffer because of him. It only strengthened his resolve to do what he planning.

"Well," continued Beckman, "as bad as this operation went, it was still a success, as a plot of terrorist attacks on US soil was foiled. It only solidifies the importance of the asset, and how much better a job we must do to protect it. Mr. Bartowski, you will have to undergo a psychiatric evaluation to see whether or not you are fit to stay in the field." Chuck nodded. "It's standard procedure, and you seem to be doing quite well, so I'm sure you'll be fine. Now, are there any questions?"

Chuck raised his hand, just because talking to General Beckman gave him the impression of being in the principal's office in school. Casey smirked at Chuck, and even Sarah grinned. "May I have a word with you in private?"

General Beckman's eyes narrowed. Casey was shocked and Sarah was scared of that look he had in his eyes. He looked like he was about to do something he didn't want to do, but knew he had to. 'Oh my god,' she thought, 'he is going to request the bunker and its all my fault.'

"General, please? Just a small moment of your time?" Chuck continued. Sarah was looking at him, wishing he would see her, see the look of pleading and desperation in her eyes.

"Alright. Major Casey, Agent Walker, will you please wait outside."

They both got up to leave. Sarah did so reluctantly. Chuck continued not to look at her as she and Casey went out the door.

"What is the idiot doing?" asked Casey angrily.

"He's prolly requesting a bunker," Sarah choked out, "because I failed him." She wondered if she would ever see him again. 'That's why he was acting like his old self,' she thought, 'He was just trying to make me happy, not let me know what he was planning.'

She sat down on the floor outside his door, buried her face in her hands, and started to silently cry. Casey put a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her.

Back in Chuck's hospital room, General Beckman was waiting. Chuck looked at the door, making sure it was shut. Then he looked up at the General, who had an amused, if not annoyed look on her face.

"General," he began, "I would no longer like Agent Walker to be my handler."


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Thanks for all the reviews. I also appreciate you worrying about what Charah supporters are planning for me. Haha. As for the story itself, this will not be an angst filled Chuck/Sarah thing. This is more about Chuck and his 'plans', whatever they may be. There will be some Chuck/Sarah moments, because it's Chuck and Sarah. Hope you enjoy this. Mistakes are all mine._

**Chuck vs. The New Girl**

Chapter 4

"Let me get this straight Bartowski," Beckman said, acting as if he told her that he was alien, "You want Agent Walker reassigned?"

"No, no, you misunderstand me," Chuck said, shaking his head. "I would like for her to just to be an spy, you know. With the fighting and missions and stuff. She does not need to be a babysitter for me."

Beckman was about to counterpoint, but Chuck cut her off. "I believe if you sent another agent whose only priority was my safety, that Team Bartowski would be even more efficient."

The general looked at him curiously, obviously thinking about his request. "Why don't you explain your plan a bit more in depth."

Chuck took a deep breath, then started. "Firstly, me and Sarah's cover relationship has gotten somewhat complicated." Beckman frowned, which Chuck took to mean she knew that they were closer than asset/handler. "In order for her to be effective on missions, she needs not to worry about me. And me, well, trouble seems to find me."

The corners of Beckman's mouth twitched.

"Well, the way I see it, it would be beneficial for the team if her focus is only on the mission, and someone else's focus was on my well being."

The general nodded, liking the proposal that Chuck was offering. She thought that it made a lot of sense. Walker was too close to the asset, and it probably was best to break them up and divide the duties of the team.

"I believe the best way for this plan to be put in place will be to end my cover with Sarah, and have the new agent be my cover girlfriend. She would accompany me on missions, and once I flashed, she could escort me away to safety while Casey and Sarah did their thing," said Chuck, making kung-fu moves with his hands. "I believe that after a few months of cover dating, I would move in with the new agent, thus making protection round the clock."

"Hmm," Beckman started. Chuck feared she was humoring him. "I have to say, I like your idea. I believe it makes sense that we should have an agent whose soul mission is your safety. If you mind my asking, why are you making such a request?"

"Well, if this," he gestured to his wounds, "has taught me anything, it's that the world is full of evil people intent on destroying it. It is my job...our job to stop it. I once I start a job, I want to be the best at it. I feel that this is the best way."

Beckman actually smiled at him, glad that he finally accepted his role as a spy. This startled Chuck, but relieved him as well. "Well Chuck, I believe that Team Bartowski will the best. Now if there is nothing else..."

"Umm, there is one more thing?"

"Yes?" Beckman inquired.

"I would like basic weapons and self defense training. It never hurts to be prepared for a worst case scenario," Chuck finished, looking at her expectantly.

Beckman paused. "Agreed. Major Casey can handle weapons training while your new handler will help you with self defense training. Once your new team member is found, I will call a briefing to let the team know of the changes." Beckman paused again. "May I ask why we had to do this alone?"

"The only reason I didn't want to say anything in front of them is that because I feared that they would disagree. They wouldn't want to admit that anything is wrong with the current situation."

Beckman mulled his words over. "Agreed. Now get some rest Mr. Bartowski. There will be no need for you to attend the briefing when it occurs. The psychiatrist will come by your residence in two days. Please make sure you are alone." She disappeared leaving the NSA logo on the screen.

'Well,' Chuck thought, 'glad that's over.' He settled into back on his hospital bed, going through his plan in his head. 'This will work,' he told himself. 'It has to. It's the only way.'

A few minutes later, a knock at the door broke his reverie. He looked over and saw Sarah staring at him, eyes all red and puffy.

"So, when are you leaving?" she asked softly.

Chuck, now concerned, asked, "What are you talking about? I'm going home tomorrow morning, just like the doc said."

'He's denying it,' she thought, 'He is so strong for me.' "Chuck, you don't have to do this, we can work through this."

Chuck had a confused look on his face. "Sarah, what are you talking about? I don't have to go home? I mean, yeah, I could prolly stay here, but I think I'll recover better at home."

"No," she angrily spat, "you locking yourself in a bunker. You don't have to do that. I promise I'll never let anything happen to you." She moved over to his bed and slid in next to him, hugging him close and laying her head on his chest.

"Oh," said Chuck, comprehension finally dawning on him. "I'm not doing that." He kissed her head to reassure her. "I just thought I would give Beckman a few ideas on how the team could work better."

Sarah snorted.

"What, you don't think she took my advice seriously?" Chuck asked.

"Yeah, Chuck, because you know best how to put a team of operatives together and make them function cohesively." She started giggling. "What did you really talk about?"

Chuck got angry, wanting to tell her everything about his plans. But laying there with her felt so good, he decided to drop it. He would enjoy his last few 'dates' with Sarah.

"I asked her whether I will be getting any sort of compensation for my time working with you guys. Oh, also set up my psyche eval."

"How did she take your request for money?"Sarah asked drowsily. She had been up all night, worrying about Chuck, and it was finally starting to get to her. She was so comfortable. 'Maybe I should spend the night a few more times,' she thought to herself. The rhythmic beating of his heart, along with his voice, was so soothing, that she eventually fell asleep.

"...and then I said, hey, there is no way I am risking life and limb for free," Chuck finished. He looked down at Sarah and saw her steady breathing and closed eyes. He sighed. It was moments like these that would test his resolve to follow through with his plan. He closed his eyes, and was soon asleep as well.

***

Friday morning started with Chuck and Sarah waking up in the hospital bed together. They were both under the blankets, with Chuck holding Sarah. One of the nurses making her rounds saw them sleeping there, almost with identical smiles on their faces, and she covered them.

Chuck rubbed his eyes, trying to get the sleep out of them, while Sarah stifled a yawn. They both felt at ease, neither one wanting to break the bond they were sharing.

Dr. Macefield walked in, and with a mock stern voice said, "What did I say, you two?"

Sarah was grinning, while Chuck answered, "Ah, come on, there's nothing wrong with a good spooning."

Dr. Macefield just smiled, "I guess not. Well, Agent Carmichael, you are free to leave. If you have any problems, please call. I don't want to sound rude, but I would rather not see you soon."

Chuck laughed. "I ain't gonna lie, I hope not either."

Chuck changed into his clothes while Sarah waited outside his room. The drive home was uneventful. When Chuck finally got settled in on the couch, Sarah sat next to him and spoke up. "Hey, you get all next week off at Buy More, so enjoy the free time. Plus, with Devon and Ellie gone, we'll have the place all to ourselves." She was smiling brightly.

Chuck smiled back, but nowhere near matching her enthusiasm. He wanted to tell her it was over, that it was officially over, but couldn't muster the strength. He knew she would fight him tooth and nail on the whole business, probably not even believing him, so he decided that having Beckman do it would be the best way.

"Well," Sarah said, "I need to get to work, but I'll come by afterwards and make you dinner. Sound good?"

"You can cook?" asked Chuck, surprised. He was looking at her.

"Well, I'll bring dinner, sound better." She grinned embarrassedly.

"That sounds much better," Chuck joked. She playfully hit his arm.

"Well, I'll see you later then," she said. She sat there waiting for his goodbye kiss. They did it so often that it had become second nature to do it whenever either of them left the other.

Chuck knew she was waiting for the kiss, but he couldn't do it. He didn't want to feel her lips on his, knowing that it could be the last time. He didn't trust himself to break the connection if it was made. He gave her a peck on the cheek instead. This surprised Sarah, who was looking very confused as she left. When she made her way to the door, she stopped, deciding whether or not to confront him. She decided that their recent fight was probably why he did that. 'Well,' she thought, 'I'll make everything clear to him tonight.' And she walked out the door with a smile on her face.

She was going to tell him the truth, admit her feelings. His recent capture and near death experience catapulted her to this decision. Life was too short. She needed to be honest with herself and with him. She would set everything right, and hopefully he would take her back after all she had put him though. 'I love you, Chuck Bartowski,' she said to herself as she hopped into her Porsche and went to work.

***

'Man,' Chuck thought, 'this is going to be a long, boring week.' He couldn't believe it. It was only 3:00 pm and he'd only been home alone for four hours, but he really wanted to go to the Buy More and clock in. 'Those blows to the head must of knocked something loose.'

He was lounging on his bed, listening to his iPod, when General Beckman appeared on his television screen. It spooked him a little, but he pulled his buds out ready to hear what the general had been doing.

"Mr. Bartowski, I believe I have found your new handler. I'll show you a picture so you can flash on her and see if she has any ties to Fulcrum." The picture of a stunning black haired, green eyed woman appeared on his screen. Her hair was shoulder length and she had the body of an athlete, although it didn't have as many curves as Sarah's. Her skin color supported Chuck's flash in that she spent much time in the sun, giving her a gorgeous tan.

His flash gave him all her information. Her name was Natalie Fox, she was 22 years old, and was 5'5. She was a gymnast at the University of Florida, where she was recruited by the CIA two years ago. She had no known ties to Fulcrum.

"Nothing General, she's legit."

"Very good. She does not and will not know that you are the Intersect. She has been told you are a high level asset on a team based in LA, and that you have become too much of a burden for your current handler, Agent Walker. I will tell you that she wasn't too happy about this assignment. She feels she is better served the in field, not babysitting a troublesome asset."

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll have enough brushes with death to satisfy her need for excitement," Chuck joked.

"I certainly hope not," said Beckman, now sounding severe. "Now, your appointment with Dr. Neese, the psychiatrist, will be tomorrow at 3:00 pm. It will take place at your home."

"OK, sounds good. Umm, will the bugs at my place be turned off then. I mean, I don't really want Sarah and Casey listening to my session. They don't need to know my worries or troubles, just whether or not I'm capable for work. I don't want them to have doubts because of something I might say."

"Don't worry, Major Casey will be told to turn off the surveillance during your session. Now, if there is no more to discuss, I must tell Walker and Casey of your new team member. Get well, and good luck." The screen went black.

Chuck thought of how Sarah was going to take the news that she had been replaced. "Well, dinner sure is going to be fun," he grimly muttered as he made his way to bathroom.

***

It was 4:30 pm at the Orange Orange. Sarah Walker had been resisting the urge to close up show and go to Chuck's since about 2:00 pm. "Only 30 more minutes," she excitedly told herself. She started to think about her and Chuck would be doing later that evening, and it caused her to flush. She was heading to the freezer to cool herself off when she heard someone come in.

Casey, wearing his Buy More green, walked in and turned the Open/Close sign on the door. "Meeting with Beckman in five," Casey said as he walked behind the counter to head into Castle. Sarah followed him.

They had taken their seats when General Beckman appeared onscreen.

"Let's get right to the point. The Intersect is our most important intelligence asset, and yet we still allow him to be captured and tortured. This isn't the first time it has happened, and I fear it won't be the last. I don't care what Mr. Bartowski said the other day, you have both failed."

Sarah figured this was coming and knew she deserved it. Casey took it all in stride, believing it was Sarah's fault, what with her feelings getting in the way.

"Having said that, it has been requested and approved that another team member, whose only objective is the protection of the Intersect, will join Operation Bartowski, allowing to become functionally effective."

Sarah was stunned. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. They were bringing in someone guard Chuck at all times. She would never get to be alone with him.

"Agent Walker, as of this moment, you are no longer Chuck's handler. Agent Natalie Fox of the CIA," all the information on Fox went on the screen, "will become Chuck's new handler. She will become his cover girlfriend, and after a period of three months, they will move together, thus putting him in her protection full time."

Sarah was losing her composure. She wasn't going to be able to be with Chuck at all, except for briefings and missions. That wasn't even close to enough. 'I love him,' she thought, 'I need to be with him.'

"General..." she began, but she was cut off.

"Let me finish Agent Walker." Beckman sounded stern, not having liked Agent Walker interrupt her. "Chuck's new handler will be with him at all times on all missions, whether he be in the field or in surveillance."

Casey looked over at Sarah and saw that she was taking these new orders horribly. He shook his head. 'This probably is the best way for Chuck to stay safe,' he thought, 'whether or not Walker likes it.'

"Also, it has been requested and approved that the Intersect be given basic weapons and defensive training. Major Casey, you will handle the weapons training, while Agent Fox will conduct his defensive training. Lastly, at no point is Agent Fox to know that Chuck is the Intersect. Are there any questions?"

Anger was pouring out of every pore in Sarah's body. Chuck had been taken from her. There was nothing she could do except focus her rage at whoever requested all of this garbage, figuring it was Casey.

Sarah stood up, chest heaving. In an attempt to control her rage, she put her hands on the table, looking at the floor. "Who made the request?" she asked through gritted teeth. Even Casey was a little intrigued. Who knew that much about there operation to make such a request?

General Beckman looked at Agent Walker, seeing the pain and the anger, and wondered whether or not she should tell the truth. She paused before saying, "Chuck Bartowski." Noting there was no response, her screen went black.

Casey was stunned, just stunned, that Bartowski did this. 'That night must have shook him up bad,' Casey thought. 'Bad enough to leave Sarah high and dry and want to be taught how to kill.'

Casey looked over at Sarah and met her eyes. They were burning with anger. He had never seen her that angry, and he was a little scared of what she might do. For the first time in his life, Casey actually felt sorry for Chuck Bartowski.

***

Chuck was laying on the couch looking at the television, not really taking in what he was seeing. He was warm under his blanket, but for some reason, a cold chill ran down his spine.


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Well, here it is. The confrontation, and the new handler appears as well. I know some of you may not like this Chuck, but this Chuck has decided to take back some sense of control of his life. He has a plan. He is, to quote the Joker, a 'schemer'. Hope you all enjoy. Love the reviews. Mistakes are all mine._

**Chuck vs. The New Girl**

Chapter 5_  
_

Sarah's Porsche screeched to a halt next to Chuck's Herder in the parking lot. She had made it from Castle to Chuck's apartment in 9 minutes and 27 seconds, a new record for her. She got out of her car and ran toward's Chuck's door, ready for confrontation.

Chuck heard the squeal of the tires outside. He got up from the couch and entered the kitchen, figuring that it was the farthest from the door, thus he was unlikely to get hit when Sarah broke it down.

Without bothering to knock, Sarah barged into apartment and upon seeing Chuck, stopped about 15 feet in front of him. Chuck was a little afraid to speak upon seeing the sight of Sarah's face. If looks could kill, Chuck was sure he would have been dead about 10 times over. She just kept staring daggers at him, seething. Chuck, noticing her hands were empty, attempted to make a joke to lighten the mood a little.

"So, we aren't having dinner then?" he asked.

It didn't work. Sarah's jaw clenched even harder and she made her way towards him, not entirely sure what she would do.

"Sarah?" Chuck asked nervously, as he started backing out of the kitchen into the hallway. He was trying to distance himself from her, but still couldn't move very well. She was gaining ground.

"Sarah, please don't hurt me. I'm the Intersect after all." He thought maybe reason would get her to stop. He was wrong. He stumbled back into his room by his bed. She entered and closed the door. She went up to him and pushed him, and he fell onto his back on his bed. She climbed on him, straddling him.

Chuck looked up at her, afraid to move. Sarah saw the fear in his eyes, the fear she knew was there night she failed him, and then broke down crying.

"Chuck, how could you do this to me? To us?" she asked, sobbing.

"What do you mean, 'to us'?" Chuck responded, totally surprised from her shift in emotions. "There was no 'us', remember?"

"But I thought we were better, you were acting like your old self again," she replied, tears running down her face.

"Well, staring death in the face puts things into perspective. I wasn't going to act like an ass and hurt your feelings to make myself feel better. That's just not worth it."

Sarah had put her face into Chuck's chest, still crying. He was rubbing her back trying to console her.

"I know what you mean," she mumbled into his chest.

Chuck, not having heard what she said between sobs, continued. "But it also showed me our relationship or whatever it is, we can't make it work. It's too difficult with the missions and all that other crap. I figured this was the best way for me to stay alive, and for us to do our job."

Sarah lifted her head to look at him. "But we can make it work. We can. Trust me. We can because I lo.."

"NO!" Chuck interrupted, speaking louder than he planned. "You can't say that. It's not fair." Chuck was getting angry. "You don't to get say it now that our cover is over."

At this, Sarah sobbed harder. "But Chuck, it's true. It's been true for awhile. I was going to show you tonight. Because you're right, everything has been put into perspective."

She leaned forward and gave Chuck a wet kiss. Fighting every instinct in his body to give in to her, he broke the kiss. "I'm sorry, Sarah, but no. It's over." She started to protest, but Chuck put a finger to her lips. "You need to leave."

"Chuck, no," she pleaded, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt, not ever wanting to let go.

"Sarah, please leave."

She looked into his eyes. He had that same look in the hospital when he was to about talk to Beckman. She knew he wouldn't give in, so she slowly crawled off of him and made her way to the Morgan door. as Sarah was about to leave, he looked back at him. Chuck,was still on the bed. The heels of his hands were on his eyes. He couldn't bear to look at her. With that, she went out the window.

Chuck lay there for 20 minutes, going over everything in his head again, just like at the hospital. 'I'm doing the right thing,' he told himself. 'It's what I have to do.' He look down at his shirt, and saw the mess of make-up and tears he had on it. He took it off and then went around the room collecting everything that was Sarah's and boxed it up. He also got rid of the pictures of the two of them. Finally, he went to the shower to wash the last bit of Sarah Walker away from him.

***

Chuck awoke with a start. His sleep had been restless, waking up every few hours with images of blood and dead bodies. His last dream had been particularly disturbing. He saw Sarah, crying holding a dead body, his dead body. When she spotted him, a knife came at him out of nowhere, waking him.

He looked over at his clock. It read 6:30 am. Even through it was way earlier than he had planned on getting up, he didn't want to have to go back to sleep and have more bad dreams. He made his way to the kitchen and had some coffee. He looked around. He had no idea of what to do to pass the time.

He decided that he would call Ellie around noon before his meeting with the psychiatrist. He figured that was a big enough time gap to let her know everything that had happened. With nothing else to look forward to, he contemplated going to the Buy More to see how things were going. He hadn't Morgan in a few days, and it would be nice to see a friendly face.

He made his way into the bathroom to get a look at himself. He looked at his reflection. For the first time, he was seeing how bad he looked. His eye was no longer swollen shut, but the left side of his face was still heavily bruised. He felt his nose. It hurt a little, but it wasn't crooked. The doctors managed to keep it straight. The way his face was still colored, he decided he would have Morgan come and see him.

Around 7:30, he called Morgan.

"Hey, Chuckster, what's going on?" Morgan answered sleepily.

"Oh nothing. You heard what happened to me, right?"

"Yeah, sorry. I've been meaning to call and visit, but I've gotten sidetracked. Well, at least I ain't interrupting all your alone time with the lady." Even on the phone, Chuck knew Morgan was grinning.

"Yeah, it's been eventful," Chuck stated truthfully. "You wanna stop by this morning?"

"Umm, yeah, roger that. I'll be over in like an hour. We'll do some serious gaming this morning."

"Sounds like a plan Morgan," Chuck said, figuring the day wasn't going to be completely boring.

So Morgan arrived, in his green Buy More shirt, and the two of them played Call of Duty for a few hours, before deciding to go a little old school and play some Halo. Not once was Chuck's attack brought up, for which Chuck was grateful. He was glad that he just got to see a friendly face, and act like nothing was wrong. It felt normal, and normal felt good.

As noon approached, Chuck had had enough. "Listen buddy, this has been great, but I got some stuff planned for the rest of the day."

"Nah, it's cool. I prolly should head to work. Was supposed to open up this morning," Morgan stated like it was nothing.

"Morgan, why didn't you tell me? You didn't have to come over."

"No, it's cool. I had Anna clock me in, so were all good. Plus, my buddy needed me. How was I gonna say no." Chuck just smiled at him, glad Morgan was his friend.

As Morgan was about to leave, he asked, "Hey, you want me and Anna to stop by tonight? Hang out with you and Sarah?"

Chuck just looked at him, deciding whether or not to tell him. 'Might as well,' he thought, 'He'll figure it out soon enough when my new handler gets here.'

"Yeah, about that," Chuck started, "me and Sarah broke up, so, I figured I would just stew in my own thoughts tonight."

Morgan was shocked. "I can't believe she broke up with you, especially after what happened to you."

Chuck smiled, thinking it was nice that Morgan would be so outraged. "Actually, I ended it. The attack got me thinking about my future and what I want out of life. And, well, me and Sarah didn't quite see eye to eye, so I ended it."

"Well Chuck," Morgan said, putting a hand on his shoulder like he was giving him sage advice, "you gotta do what you gotta do."

Chuck nodded. 'At least Morgan gets it,' he thought.

As Morgan left, he took out his cell phone. 'Time for the call,' he thought. 'This is going to take a while.' He had decided that he was going to tell Ellie how him and Sarah were through. He knew she would take it badly. Ellie was coming to see Sarah as her 'almost' sister. As the phone started ringing, he lay down on the couch, trying to get as comfortable as possible for what he knew would be a long phone conversation.

"CHUCK!" Ellie screamed so loud that he had to pull the phone away from his head.

"Yeah, sis, it's me. Please don't yell so loud."

"Oh, sorry Chuck. It's just Sarah told us what happened and we've been so worried and you hadn't called yet." Ellie was speaking a mile a minute.

"Sis, calm down. I'm fine. Well, not fine, but it could be worse," Chuck reassured her.

"Alright, alright. It's just when Sarah called, she didn't sound good. She was so worried, so broken up about the whole ordeal. Why didn't you just give those guys your wallet? It's not like you have a bunch of money or important things in there." Ellie now sounded angry, like it was his fault he was attacked.

Chuck frowned. "I don't know. But let me assure you, I'm always running from a fight now."

"Okay. I'm just glad your alive." Ellie paused before changing tones. "So, how are you and Sarah liking having the whole place to yourselves. It must feel pretty good right?" she pestered, "Good enough for you two to want to get your own place together?"

Chuck sighed, "Look, Ellie, I broke up with Sarah." He pulled the phone away from him, knowing was coming next.

"WHAT? WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?" Ellie screamed.

"Look," Chuck started, "this whole....mugging thing got me thinking about my future and what I want out of life. And Sarah, well, she just kinda lives in the moment, you know? She is happy with where things are. She doesn't want to set anything in stone, so I ended it."

"But Chuck," Ellie countered, "I know she is the one for you. The way you guys act together, the way she looks at you, the way you look at her. I know this thing spooked you, but don't throw your relationship away because of she doesn't want the next five years of her life planned already."

"Ellie, please don't try to change my mind. What's done is done. I'm doing what's best for me. I know what I want my life to be, and Sarah just doesn't want the same things. So please don't bring it up again. And don't call Sarah and pester her about all this. She already knows what I want."

He heard her sigh. "Okay Chuck, but I think your making a huge mistake."

"So, how is the trip? Awesome kill himself trying to do something insane?" Chuck asked, acting as if he didn't hear her last comment.

For almost two hours, they talked on the phone. She told him about all their trip. The shows they watched, the food they ate, the clothes they bought. Chuck nearly fell asleep listening to it all. As they were hanging up, Ellie tried to talk about Sarah again, but Chuck feigned being tired in order to get off the phone.

Having been inside all day, Chuck went out into the courtyard to get some fresh air. He took a seat by the fountain, and just stared up at the sky. His thoughts were all scrambled. He went from Sarah, to the new girl, to the muscle, trying to wrap his head around his situation. 'Get your brain under control,' he thought. 'You gotta convince a shrink you're fully functioning.'

***

Chuck and Dr. Neese were sitting in the livingroom, looking at one another. Dr. Neese was 45 years old, had a doctorate in behavior psychology from Harvard, and had worked for the CIA for 15 years. She had been married for 20 years, and currently her and husband, and their two children, lived just outside of Washington D.C. Chuck gained this knowledge via a flash when he met her.

She had the appearance of a hawk, with her hair done up in a bun and her eyes always narrowed. This was juxtaposed by her soft voice and gentle demeanor. She and Chuck had been sitting in silence since they exchanged greetings when they met over five minutes ago. She had a pad and pencil in her hands, and was gently bouncing the pencil on the pad, eyeing Chuck curiously.

"Umm, aren't you supposed to ask me questions or something?" Chuck asked nervously, fearing she would make all her assumptions just by staring at him.

"Would you like me to ask you questions?" Dr. Neese replied.

"Isn't that how you determine if I can stay in the field?" Chuck asked, worried what the answer might be.

Dr. Neese answered, "I will make that determination based on lots of things, not just how you answer certain questions. Your behavior, your speech patterns, your thoughts, it is all very important."

"Where would you like to begin?" Chuck asked.

"That's up to you," she said sweetly, smiling at him.

"Well, might as well start with the recent incident. To be honest, I can't get it out of my head. If I'm busy, I'm alright. But when I'm alone, all I see is his face, and the life leaving his eyes. It's like it has been printed on my retinas."

"That is natural," she said. "Having not been trained as an agent, you had no way to prepare yourself for the taking of a human life."

"I know. It's like, are the good guys and bad guys really that different? They use the same tactics, doing anything you can imagine to accomplish their missions." He paused. "I guess the difference is the reasons behind it. One fights for the dollar and death. The other for safety and preservation of life. I guess that realization is what brought about my sudden epiphany in the hospital."

"Please explain."

"Well, I recently decided that I wanted a little training and for a change in our team dynamic. I want to help people. It's who I am. Whether it's fixing a phone or disarming a bomb, I feel it's my duty to help. I don't want to have to kill anyone, but I know what I'm fighting for, and that is what really matters."

They continued talking for over an hour with Dr. Neese writing on her pad every now and then. When Sarah was brought up, Chuck got a little nervous.

"Yeah, I guess you could say I have feelings for her."

"I did say that. Would you?"

"Yes, I care a great deal for Sarah. She was another reason I requested all the changes."

"But that ended your relationship with her. You pushed her away."

"I know, but I had to. I knew how much pain she was in. I did this to protect her."

"Protect her from what?"

"From me. I know she has some feelings towards me. But in the field, for an agent, that will get her killed. If she is always worried about me, then she can't focus on her job. I know she hates me right now, but I am trying to keep her alive."

Dr. Neese, had apparently heard enough. She put her pad and pencil away and got up.

"Umm, what's the verdict?" Chuck asked, fearing the worst.

"You are good to go. You value human life. Even though you killed a man who beat and tortured you, you still feel sorry for him. You are self sacrificing in almost every way possible.. You are exactly the type of person that should be saving the world."

Chuck smiled his biggest smile. "Thank you so much."

"And don't worry, the nightmares will lessen, but they come with the territory. Good-bye and good luck."

With that, Dr. Neese exited out the door. Chuck felt like doing a cartwheel, and would have tried had it not been for his injuries. He felt so elated that he reached into his phone to call Sarah and tell her the good news. It was when her picture was shown on his phone that his smile disappeared.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered to her. "Once all this over, you'll see I did the right thing."

Wanting to take his mind off of her, he decided he would exercise a little. He needed to start now that he was cleared for duty. He tried to think of what he could do that wouldn't hurt him, when his eyes found the stationary bike. 'Better than nothing,' he thought.

After 45 minutes hard work, Chuck had worked up a good lather and was feeling winded. His thighs burned, and he instantly thought he should have gone for a lighter workout to start with. He was heading to the kitchen for some water when there was a knock at his door. He slowly made his way over to it.

Chuck opened the door and found Natalie Fox standing there smiling. She was wearing a pair of low rider jeans and a white tank top and was standing on a pair of pink flip flops.

His appearance startled her, what with the left half of his being bruised, causing her smile to falter.

"So, you're the one causing all the problems?" She eyed him warily.

"I guess I am."

"What happened to you?" she asked bluntly.

"I was abducted and tortured," Chuck answered matter-of-factly.

"Oh," Natalie said, surprised. "Well, I'll make sure that never happens again," she finished as she stepped over the threshold and gave him a kiss.


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Well, here it is. I don't want to make any promises, because, really, where's the fun if you know how things are going to end? I enjoy the reviews, and I hope you enjoy this. Mistakes are all mine so I apologize for those._

**Chuck vs. The New Girl**

Chapter 6

The sun had been pouring in the window and onto the bed for an hour. The heat it created finally was enough to wake Chuck from his slumber. Not wanting to open his eyes, he just lay there, breathing in her scent. It always strongly smelled of apples, with various other less distinct smells also present. Today, he thought the lesser smell could have been pineapple, but he was never really sure. He finally opened his eyes, taking in the sight of her cuddled next to his body. He was holding her tight, watching her sleep.

"Stop staring at me. It's weird," she mumbled sleepily.

Chuck grinned, "Alright, but then that means I have to leave the bed." He started to loosen his grip.

"No," she moaned, "It's too comfortable for you to leave."

It indeed was comfortable, but with his shift at the Buy More starting in an hour, he had to get ready for work. He slowly let go of her and got out from underneath the covers. He heard her make a disappointed noise as he left the bed. Chuck grinned as he made his way to the shower, taking one last look at Natalie before he closed the bathroom door.

***

It had been a whole two weeks since she made her grand entry into his life. Her initial kiss took him by surprise. But when she suggested that they make out for awhile, he was at a loss for words. She explained that they were going to be 'hot and heavy' with each other. They were going to passionate, thus explaining why they would always be spending the night at her place, or when Ellie and Awesome worked nights, his place. She further reasoned that they needed to be comfortable being openly affectionate, and that this was the best way to be comfortable around one another. Practice she called it. And since they were going to be moving in together in a couple of months, they had to sell it convincingly.

So while he was at home for the next week, they spent all their time together. They were always cuddling, always touching, always kissing. He was surprised that she also had interests in popular culture, such as movies and music. In almost every way, she was an anti-Sarah. Willing to talk, willing to share.

But that wasn't all they did together. She also put a workout regimen in place for him. Every morning, she would come over and they would workout. They mostly did cardio workouts because he still wasn't quite recovered enough to begin heavy muscle training. Chuck also spent an hour every night with Casey going over small firearms training. To start off with, Chuck was terrible. He was nervous just holding a gun, especially in front of Casey. Casey didn't make it make it any easier on him, giving him a hard time whenever he made mistakes. But by the end of the first week, Chuck was comfortable holding a gun, but still quite hesitant about actually firing at someone. Their time at the firing range showed he was an above average shot, what with all gaming hours he had logged. But Casey told him he was only allowed to fire a gun in order to save his life, just his life. And with the new steps taken to ensure his safety, it seemed very unlikely that he would have to fire, for which Chuck was thankful.

After the first week, with Ellie and Awesome coming back into town, and Chuck having to go back to work, Natalie came up with the idea to have Chuck 'meet' her on an install, and thus their cover relationship could be born. However, it didn't go off perfectly. Chuck came home from his first day back, and was surprised to see Sarah sitting in his living room talking to his sister. It was the first time he had seen her since she confessed her feelings to Chuck.

It was awkward to say the least. Chuck knew Ellie was trying to get them back together and was none too pleased about it. Chuck did his best to get out of there as quickly as possible, but knew he was no match for Ellie when it came to this. She made Chuck sit down so they could talk.

Chuck was practically pulled into a chair by Ellie. 'God, this is going to be awful,' he thought, 'and he knew Sarah wouldn't make it easy.'

"Look, Ellie, I have plans tonight, and I need to be getting around," Chuck simply stated.

"How can you have plans, Chuck? You don't have a girlfriend anymore." Ellie sounded a little peeved, like Chuck was breaking the rules by breaking up with Sarah.

"Yeah," Chuck started defensively, "well, I met someone on an install, and I'm taking her out tonight."

"Oh," said Sarah, "moving on pretty quickly I see." She sounded bitter.

"Well, life is short, and I'm tired of being stuck in place," Chuck stated heatedly. He got up to grab some clothes and leave. "See you around, Sarah."

He made his way to the hallway, but was still able to hear a sniff, and Ellie comfortingly say, "Don't worry, I'm sure he'll come around."

When he entered his room, he closed the door and leaned back against it. "What am I doing?" he muttered to himself.

'Look,' he angrily told himself, 'you made this decision in the hospital. You had finally had enough. This was the only way to free yourself from the Intersect. If you think this is hard, how are you going to survive what you have left to do?'

Needless to say, he was bitter when he arrived at Natalie's. When she opened the door, she was wearing sweatpants and an old t-shirt. "Why are you dressed up?" she asked.

"Oh, well, I thought we were going out, you know, to have a little fun." Chuck was surprised that she could have forgotten about it.

"Oh, I didn't know you actually wanted to go out. I thought you would just come here to chill for a bit until you thought it was time to go," she said.

"We can do that, I guess."

"No, come in," she gestured for him to enter her place. "I didn't you know you actually wanted to do something. I'll go throw something on then we go watch a movie or something." She sounded excited.

It was then that Chuck became instantly smitten with her. From their common interests, her ability to talk and share, to actually looking forward to dates, Chuck was going to enjoy her company. He knew he wouldn't fall for her. He couldn't. Not after everything that he and Sarah went through. He knew Sarah would always have his heart. But Natalie and him would easily become friends, enjoying one another's company.

When their date ended, she insisted he stay the night. She argued that it would be good for the cover. The best way to get over an ex was with an easy lay. Chuck laughed at her comments.

"Listen Chuck, I have the whole relationship planned. For the first month or so, will just say were having fun. But then after that we'll start getting serious, and pretty soon you'll be here full time, under my personal guard." She winked at him.

"All right, I guess." He looked around her apartment for the first time, taking it all in. It was a two room apartment. There was a little kitchenette to the right when you entered. The more Chuck thought about it, the more it reminded of the kitchen at Ellie's and Awesome's place, except that everything was smaller.

Her living room consisted of a black leather recliner, a love seat, and a couch long enough for Chuck to stretch out on. All those pieces of furniture were placed around the home theater system Chuck had installed earlier in the day. There was an archway that led to her bedroom on the left.

In her bedroom, she had her dresser up against the far wall with pictures of her family and friends. Not having gone into the field on solo missions, she kept her personal artifacts in plain view. Her bed was placed so that the sun would be shining on it every morning through the window. Her bathroom consisted of just a shower, toilet and sink, no fancy Jacuzzi.

As Chuck made his way to the couch for the night, he was stopped by Natalie.

"What are you doing Chuck?" she asked.

"Umm, sleeping on the couch."

"No your not," she said, dragging him to her bed. "Come on, we've snuggled and stuff on your couch. This won't be any different."

The more Chuck thought about it, the more it made sense. He just didn't want to tempt himself. He wanted to keep his distance from her. Reluctantly, Chuck got into her bed for the night.

Natalie climbed into bed wearing nothing but her underpants.

"Nope," Chuck said, "No way."

"What?"

"You have to put a shirt on."

"But I get hot when I sleep."

"Either put a shirt on or I go to the couch."

"Fine," she pouted as she grabbed a shirt.

As much as she protested about being hot when she slept, Chuck couldn't help but notice that she crept closer and closer to him as the night went on, eventually waking up in his arms. When he woke up, he realized he didn't have the nightmares that normally accompanied him when we was alone. So he spent every night that week with her, not only because he was tired of Ellie badgering him, but because she seemed to calm the nightmares that bothered him when he slept.

***

Natalie lay in bed, trying to fall back asleep. But the sound of the shower kept her awake. She has debating whether or not to jump in their with Chuck. With no missions so far, it had been long since she had any type of physical release. And constantly being around Chuck was driving her crazy.

Most of her relationships at college had been casual. She was more focused on school and training then on anything else. Being with men was merely a way to let go of stress or excess energy. She had never been in love and often had to end her casual relationships because her men were getting too needy.

But with Chuck, it was different. He really was sticking to this cover thing. Maybe he was worried about emotional attachments. She figured if she just let him know what was going on, that all she wanted was casual sex, no strings attached, he could give her the release she was dying for. I mean, what kind of guy would turn down sex, 'especially with me,' she thought.

She watched as Chuck emerged from the bathroom in his Nerd Herd attire. She smiled at him, "Have fun at work."

"Yeah," said Chuck, sounding less than thrilled about the Buy More. "So, what exactly are you doing for cover work? We've been together so much that there is no way you could have a job."

"Well, since Walker and Casey got where you work covered, there was really no reason to get me a job in the plaza. I believe my cover is that my rich parents died in a car accident, and I got a huge inheritance which allows me to not have to work." She smiled at him.

"Ah," said Chuck frowning, "If only I were so lucky." She knew his parents were gone and it was only him and his sister.

Trying to cheer him up, she asked, "Hey, want me to stop by your place after work? I'm dying to meet your sister."

"Yeah, might as well. We haven't been getting along that great. She still insists I'm in love with Sarah and that we can work it out." Chuck was shaking his head, not understanding how his sister always seemed to know what his feelings were when it came to this stuff.

"Don't worry. I show her that you have moved on to bigger and better." Natalie winked and blew him a kiss.

Chuck grinned. "Don't show too much. I still live there you know." And with that, he walked out the door.

The drive from Natalie's to the Buy More didn't take very long, but traffic was backed up today because of an accident. Chuck sat in his car, feeling bored, while listening to his iPod. After five minutes of not moving, he started looking around to see if he could find another way to work. To his right, he saw a Chinese business man sitting in the passenger of a black sedan. He then felt his brain go into overdrive as the flash hit.

The man's name as Ray Chen. He was the owner of an import/export business, dealing mainly in ancient Chinese artifacts, and was believed to be leading the Triads that were in the LA area. It had been so long since Chuck flashed that it gave him a splitting headache. He quickly pulled out his phone and called Casey to let him know of the situation. Casey sounded like a boy on Christmas. After two weeks of almost nothing, they finally had something to do.

After a half hour barely moving, Chuck finally pulled into the plaza. He got out his car and made his way into the Buy More. After spending an hour logging invoices, he looked up and saw Natalie walking in. She looked great, although she was wearing just a pair of tattered jeans and an old t-shirt. That was another thing he liked about her. She never really seemed to fuss over how she looked. Maybe it was because she didn't care, or because she knew she would look good in anything. Either way, it put a smile on Chuck's face.

"Hey sweetie," she purred as she reached the desk. She pulled him into a deep kiss, letting their tongues dance with one another.

"Whoa!" said Lester, who had just come up to the desk.

Chuck and Natalie separated, and she turned to face him. "Hi, I'm Natalie, Chuck's new girlfriend. I'm really sorry about this, but I need to borrow Chuck for about a half hour. Those ten minutes this morning in the shower just weren't enough." She winked at Lester as she took Chuck's hand and led him to the break room. Lester stood there in shock as they left.

As they were walking towards the break room, she said, "Casey called, said we had a briefing with the General at 10." Chuck looked at his watch and saw it was about 9:50. "I'm so excited. Our first mission together."

They opened the secret passageway to Castle and made their way to the underground base.

***

Sarah was looking over the Ray Chen dossier when Chuck and Natalie walked in, smiling and joking. Part of her wanted to take a pair of her knives and end them both. The other part oozed jealousy as she pictured that it was her and Chuck that were together.

Immediately after she left Chuck's that night, she was planning on going to Beckman to request a transfer. But something was nagging in the back of her mind. She couldn't believe Chuck had pushed her away like that. She knew the 'incident' had affected in some way, but he couldn't believe that it caused him to stop loving her. 'So why is he pushing me away?' she asked herself.

Even though she knew she had given him plenty of mixed signals, the look on his face whenever he saw her told her that he was utterly in love with her. And she loved him too. She finally admitted that to herself. 'You can't leave Chuck,' she told herself. 'He needs you. And you need him.' So she decided to stay, if only because she would be near Chuck, but that didn't mean she was going be happy about her situation.

"Nice way to get Chuck here," Sarah said with a voice like ice, looking up from the dossier. "Have you always been that easy?"

Natalie just smiled at her, but her green eyes were full of fire. "Well, I know how to keep a man happy," she smirked as she gave Chuck's behind a little smack and moved forward to a seat at the table, "something you obviously don't."

The two woman were staring daggers at each other. Chuck was afraid to move, for fear that he might instigate something. Casey had an amused look on his face. 'These women are really fighting over Bartowski?' he thought. It caused him to smirk.

"Ahem," said General Beckman. "Am I interrupting?" She was eyeing the two women suspiciously.

"No General, ready for your briefing," Chuck quickly responded, hoping the presence of Beckman would diffuse this situation. The two finally broke their gaze and turned towards the monitor.

"Ray Chen is the leader of the local Triads. However, since his business looks legitimate, we have had no way to investigate. He is attending a consulate party tonight at the Chinese Embassy. It is believed that some of his associates from China will be there. Chuck, you and Agent Fox will attend the party and see if he makes any contact with any of these individuals. If we can connect him to illegal operations, then we can investigate his businesses here, and maybe take out all known Triads in the area. Agents Casey and Walker will be on staff. Once the asset has ascertained whom Chen is meeting, relay the information to Agents Casey and Walker, and then you and Agent Fox are to leave."

Chuck was grinning at the thought of Sarah walking around carrying drinks. He caught her eye and immediately his face fell with the look he was getting.

Sarah couldn't believed she had been reduced to being staff. She was always with Chuck, rubbing elbows with all the people. Now she had to act nice and give them champagne while she waited for Chuck to flash. She was angry, and when she saw Chuck's grin, she got even angrier, which he seemed to notice.

"Are there pictures of his associates?" asked Natalie. "So we know who we are looking for?" She may have been new, but she wasn't dumb. How would Chuck even know what he was looking for if there weren't pictures?

"Chuck will be given all the information he needs to make proper identifications," replied an annoyed Beckman. She didn't like Agent Fox asking questions. "You worry about the asset's safety. That is your only concern."

"Well, I thought since I'm going to be there, I might as well help Chuck," said Natalie, a little taken aback by Beckman's stern voice.

"Just do your job, and Chuck will do his." Beckman sounded angry. She gave the team one last glare before leaving.

"Well," said Chuck looking at his watch, "our half hour is about up. We better get back to the Buy More."

Chuck and Natalie went back the way they came. Sarah noticed Casey had a look on his face like he was going to say something, and just angrily said, "Don't Casey. I don't want to hear it." She stormed off up to the Orange Orange. Casey just growled, angry that he was going to have to keep Fox and Walker from killing each other.

***

"I don't see why Beckman had to act like that," said Natalie. She sounded upset. They were back in the break room.

"Look," Chuck started, "You're here to help alleviate some of the strain the team had. We were doing things that no three person team should have been doing. Now that you're here, it makes it easier on us all. We all have our separate assignments. With everything compartmentalized, it makes it better."

She just smiled at him. He was making her feel better. She found it hard to believe that he gave Walker too much trouble. Chuck was a gentlemen and a sweetheart. It was more likely that Walker was losing her edge, so that's why she was here.

Just then, they heard voices coming down to the break room.

"Quick, get in the chair," she told Chuck, "and pull your shirt out and open it a bit."

As Chuck did this, he noticed Natalie was taking her shirt off. "What are you doing?"

"We have to act like we've been fooling around."

Standing in her bra, she undid her pants. She then went up to Chuck and undid his too. She then got on his lap, straddling him. She messed up her hair a bit and then ran her hands through Chucks. Just as the door was opening, she started kissing Chuck. Morgan and Anna walked in holding hands.

"Whoa there buddy," said Morgan, taking in the sight of a half naked chick on Chuck's lap. Natalie was red faced and grinning at Morgan and Anna, while Chuck's face was burning with embarrassment.

"Sorry about this," she told them, "I just can't stand to be away from him."

With that, she hopped off and did up her pants. "See you tonight honey," she said sweetly and stooped to give him a kiss. She grabbed her shirt and put it on as she left the break room.

***

Chuck was in Natalie's bathroom, putting the finishing touches on his appearance. He was in a tuxedo and had just finished up putting on his bow tie when Natalie walked in. She was wearing a black evening dress with her hair done up. Once she got Chuck's attention, she did a twirl in her heels to get his opinion. Her entire back was showing, as the dress was held up by a little piece of fabric around her neck. It was skin tight, and when she saw Chuck's face, she knew she looked good.

"You like it?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"Umm...yeah," Chuck struggled to say. "I mean, I didn't realize my date was a Miss America contestant."

Chuck's kind words caused her to blush. She thought she would have a little fun with him. "Just so you know, I couldn't were any underwear because it would show, and that would look awful."

Chuck's eyes bugged out a little at that comment as he was still looking her over. This caused a question to pop into his head.

"So, you are bringing a weapon of some sort, aren't you?"

"I already have one on me."

"Really?" Chuck asked, surprised she could find some place to hide it. "Well, I have no idea where you could have hidden it."

"Maybe I'll show you later." She grinned at him as she left the bathroom.

Chuck shook his head. He knew she wanted to fool around. She was coming on to him more and more often. As tempted as he got sometimes, he just couldn't do that to Sarah. He acted like he was over her, sure, but he wasn't. How can you get over the love of a lifetime? 'Stay the course,' he told himself, 'and everything will be the way it's supposed to be.' He looked at his reflection on last time, trying to reassure himself, before he left for the party.

***

Chuck and Natalie were in the back of a limo, with Casey driving, and were going over the mission once more.

"Okay Chuck, this should be simple. You go in there, do your thing, report your findings, and leave. Shouldn't take more than a few hours. Fox, you are under no circumstances to leave Chuck's side. Once he has finished his task, leave with him immediately and head back to your hotel room."

"Sounds simple enough," said Chuck, looking down at his tuxedo to make sure the camera they hid in there was still in place. "Go in there, take pictures, give information to you, then leave."

"Don't sound so glum, Chuck. It is a party after all." Natalie was smiling at him when he looked up. "We can have a little fun while work."

"Just don't screw it up Bartowski. We'll see if this new team dynamic works as good as 'someone' thinks it will." Casey was eyeing Chuck in the rearview mirror as he said this.

Chuck saw him and gave him an annoyed look.

"So, do I get to carry a gun yet?" Chuck asked casually.

"Ha," Casey laughed. "You are nowhere near ready to carry a concealed weapon on a mission. You'll give yourself away for sure."

With that, the limo came to a stop.

"Ready," Natalie asked excitedly.

Chuck put on a smile. "You know I am."

The two of them stepped out the limo and, arm in arm, made their way to the party.

_A/N 2: I will be away from my computer for the weekend, so do not expect any updates until Sunday night at the earliest. Probably more like Monday._


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: Well, I'm back. Had a wedding to attend this weekend. It was a very entertaining event, but it didn't stop me from wanting to finish this puppy for you guys. I hope you all enjoy this. The story is reaching it's climax, and I hope it is as exciting as it was supposed to be. Mistakes are all mine._

**Chuck vs. The New Girl**

Chapter 7

The first mission for Team Bartowski was a complete success. Chuck made his way around the party with Natalie, flashing on various people with ties to the Triads. For over two hours he collected as much information as he could, and when the evening was winding down, he relayed the information to Casey. At this point, he and Natalie left the party and went back to her hotel room.

Natalie was a little disappointed in how the mission went. She thought there would be more excitement, but all she did was stay on Chuck's arm while he walked around, talking to people here and there. She was getting agitated at the lack of excitement on both the mission and in her bedroom, but she figured tonight was the night that she would make everything clear to Chuck.

"Listen Chuck, I think we should have sex, you know, for real."

She was standing just outside her bedroom in nothing but a robe, having just taken a shower. Chuck was sitting on the couch, watching the X-Files, and did not really hear her as a result of being too absorbed in affairs of Agents Mulder and Scully.

"Huh?" Chuck asked, eyes still on the TV.

"We should have sex Chuck." She was eyeing him curiously. He didn't even seem to notice her being there.

Chuck finally turned his head and saw her. "I don't know...." Chuck replied lamely.

"Chuck, it's just sex. No strings attached. We both need the release, you know, to get rid of some of the stress and anxiety." She was still staring at him. She couldn't believe that he still hadn't moved. Any other guy would have been all over her.

"Look," Chuck stated, looking around for some sort of inspiration to hit him as he made his defense, "not that 'that' doesn't sound...good. It's just that I'm not at good at being in casual relationships. Prolly because I've never been in one. I can't help you. I'm sorry."

Noting the change in her demeanor from hopeful to angry, Chuck decided he should leave.

"Uhh," said Chuck standing up and holding his gut, "those shrimp are doing a number on my stomach. I think I'm going to go home for the night. See you tomorrow." With that, Chuck left quickly before she tried to get him to stay.

Natalie was still standing in her robe, not quite entirely sure what had happened. Chuck was always nice and sweet to her. He definitely didn't mind all that they did to maintain their cover. So why was he avoiding sleeping with her? She decided she'd have to ask Agent Walker if their was something wrong with Chuck.

***

The morning briefing in Castle found the team greeting a very happy General Beckman. She told them that Ray Chen had been apprehended with some of his contacts that Chuck identified the other night as Triad trying to smuggle weapons into China by way of ancient Chinese antiquities. Since they had Chen, they could go after his business and once they found out all that he was involved with, those operations would be shut down too. She thought that this effort could likely cripple Triad activities in the area. She was also very pleased with how the whole mission transpired. No one suspected their involvement, as they let the local FBI take down Chen. She went so far as to describe it as 'textbook'.

As Chuck and Casey left the briefing to go the Buy More, Natalie decided to stay and have a talk with Sarah. Before heading down the secret tunnel Chuck looked back to get one last glimpse of Sarah to hold him off until the next time he saw her. He was so surprised that he saw Natalie walking up to her that he stopped walking and Casey ran into him.

"Bartowski," he growled, "You better start walking if you want to continue to eat solid food."

Chuck ignored him and continued to look back at Sarah and Natalie. He had an extreme sense of foreboding. 'This is going to end badly,' he thought. Casey, noticing Chuck's stares, glanced over his shoulder. The sight of Fox approaching Walker caused him some apprehension.

"Keep moving Bartowski. I'm sure their just comparing your prowess in bed," Casey quipped, pushing Chuck down the tunnel. Part of Chuck wanted to stay to figure out what was going on, but the other part was sure that it was nothing good, so it was better to not know. He allowed himself to be pushed into the Buy More to begin yet another day of work.

Back in Castle, Natalie was unsure of where to begin. The look she was getting from Sarah was causing her to have second thoughts about this whole conversation.

"Umm," she started hesitantly, "I think there is something wrong with Chuck."

Startled, Sarah replied, "What do you mean?" She got nervous as she thought about that could be wrong with Chuck. 'Is he sick? Is he finally starting to crack?'

"Yeah, I mean, I keep throwing myself at him, and he won't respond."

A slight grin came across Sarah's face. 'Ha,' she thought, 'Chuck won't sleep with her. But then, why did he ask for a new handler? She was giving him a chance to have something real and he was avoiding it. What is he doing?' Sarah was now confused. She decided to play it off as a joke.

"Well, he was fine when I was with him. Must be you lack something that makes him 'happy'," Sarah stated, hoping the dig would make Fox would leave.

Natalie gave her an annoyed look and shaking her head, decided that it would be best to leave.

Once, Natalie had left Castle, Sarah pulled up surveillance on the Buy More and saw Chuck sitting at the Nerd Herd desk working.

"What are you doing?" she asked the picture of Chuck on the monitor. She decided that she would have to watch him closely whenever they had contact. She would also have to watch more surveillance. She had resisted doing that until now, just because she figured Chuck and Natalie had been shacking up. Deciding it would best to keep her concerns to herself for the time being, she took one last look at the monitor before heading to the Orange Orange.

***

Over the next eight weeks, Team Bartowski operated flawlessly. Every mission was the same. Chuck did this thing, Natalie took him home, and Casey and Sarah went and did their thing. They were operating efficiently and Chuck was never once put in danger. As much as it annoyed Casey, and especially Sarah, the new team was working better than the old one.

Chuck was still continuing his weapons and self defense training. He was getting very good with the gun. It was almost feeling natural to hold it. He preferred the Desert Eagle, but Casey thought it was a bit too much gun for Chuck, so he decided that his field weapon would be a Glock, if it ever came to that. His defensive training was going smoothly as well. He wasn't taught how to fight, but more of how to stun an enemy so that he could get away and wait for backup to come and get him.

Sarah had continued to watch Chuck as much as she could, but she never noticed anything out of the ordinary. Sure, he wasn't sleeping with Natalie, which made Sarah happy, but it also made no sense. She thought he did this so he wouldn't have deal with all the drama the two of them had. And the weapons and defensive training, well, it seemed smart, but it didn't seem like Chuck. She knew he was planning something, but she had no idea what. And she wasn't going to tell Beckman or Casey because of a couple of things that were out of character. They wouldn't believe her, and it might put Chuck on his guard, making it even harder to figure out what he was trying to do.

***

The team had just assembled into their usual spots around the table when General Beckman appeared on screen.

"Well team, it appears you have a mission for tomorrow evening. Intel reports that there is some sort of weapon prototype that is going to be auctioned off at a gathering at the Grand Seville tomorrow night. Mr. Bartowski, you and Agent Fox will go as guests to the hotel and mingle. Chuck will identify any of the buyers and relay the information to Casey and Sarah, who will be monitoring in a van outside. Once you have identified the buyers, Chuck, you and Agent Fox will leave and Casey and Sarah will follow and detain them, along with confiscating the weapon and hopefully capturing whoever is selling it. Any questions?" The general gave them a quick once over before ending the teleconference.

"Should be fun," said Chuck, thinking out loud, "but I hope it goes better than the last auction I went to," he finished. Sarah and Casey both remembered the art auction, with him being bound and threatened with torture and death, and each had small grins.

"Well, we better get to your place and start packing up some of your stuff. After all, you are moving in this weekend," she sounded less than thrilled. Chuck was still spurning her advances. Maybe it was because they hadn't slept together, but Natalie found that a lot of her spare time involved a lot of thinking about Chuck and the various things she would love to do to him and have done to her.

Sarah's grin fell. Chuck was moving in with Natalie. 'It should be me that Chuck is living with,' she thought.

Chuck and Natalie got up and left Castle to head back to Chuck's place to start packing. Casey was sitting down cleaning his gun, something he always did to pass the time, while Sarah sat there deep in thought, contemplating exactly what Chuck was planning. She knew he was going to make his move sometime, and if they weren't ready, there was no way they would be able to stop him.

***

"Chuck, are you sure about this?" Ellie asked, always concerned about Chuck. She had seen Chuck and Natalie interact, and they seemed to enjoy each other's company greatly. She liked Natalie. She was always nice, and Chuck seemed to like her a lot. But that was it. He didn't love her, not like he did Sarah.

"Yeah, sis, I'm sure. I think it's time for this beautiful bird to leave the nest," Chuck joked. They were getting boxes around for all of his things.

"But Chuck," Ellie started, but Chuck cut her off.

"Ellie, how many times have I told you? It's over with me and Sarah. Don't get me wrong, I'll always care for Sarah, and I'm sure a part of me will always love her, but Natalie is best for me."

Ellie just sighed in defeat. "If your sure." Ellie was so sure that Chuck would eventually get back together with Sarah. She had met with Sarah a few times since Chuck had ended things between them. Sarah never really liked to talk about it. Ellie could see how much it hurt, so she never really pushed the subject. And since Chuck was in a relationship, Ellie could never find a way to assure Sarah that things would be back to normal in no time.

They continued packing up his things and decided to wait until the weekend to move his things, since both Ellie and Devon and Chuck would all have the day off.

***

Chuck and Natalie were both in Natalie's bedroom, getting ready for the evening's mission.

"So," asked Chuck, "what time you do you want us to start moving my stuff in here tomorrow?" He was working on tying his tie.

"Umm, whenever we get up tomorrow, we can start," Natalie added with a sigh, doing some last minute alterations to her makeup.

"Look," started Chuck, noticing the sigh, "I think you're great. I really do. I feel like I finally have a friend that I can be around in the spy world who enjoys me for me. We share common interests and stuff. With Sarah, it was hard being alone together because we are so different. But it's easy for me to be around you. And sex would just complicate matters. Can't we just be friends?"

Natalie looked up and saw Chuck standing there with his puppy dog eyes, and she just smiled. She really loved it when he gave her that look or a big smile. 'Wait', she thought, 'I've never loved anything about another guy. What is going on with me?'

"Yeah," she said, deciding that it was best to remain cordial, "I really want to be friends too." She figured that after enough time, Chuck would finally cave and she would have him all to herself. She smiled as she thought about it.

"So how do I look?" asked Chuck, doing a twirl.

She grinned and replied, "Very suave. Like Bond. What about me?"

She did a twirl herself. It seemed like every time she did this, Chuck would get distracted so bad that all he could do was stare. He was taking in her sight for the very first time. She always looked fantastic when they went on missions, and tonight was no exception. She wearing just a simple white evening dress. Maybe it was the way she carried herself, or maybe it was because of the makeup and hairdo, but she seemed to make any dress look even better than he thought possible.

Chuck's stares at her always caused her to blush. It was same tonight. She was used to having guys ogle her all the time, but because it was Chuck, it got her really excited. She wasn't quite sure what to make of this. 'What is wrong with you?' she asked herself. 'It's just another guy drooling over you like they always do.'

'Oh my God,' she told herself, 'I think I'm falling for Chuck.' She didn't know how it happened. Maybe it was the way he always complimented her, the way he always acted like a gentlemen, the security she felt when she woke up in his arms, or the desire to have something that she couldn't get, but something about Chuck stirred up feelings she didn't even know she had until just recently.

"Well, ready to go?" Chuck asked, looking down at his watch.

"Of course," she said, taking his arm as they left her room.

In the limo, they were greeted to Sarah wearing her usual mission ensemble of anything black.

"Here," said Sarah, handing them earwigs. "Make sure everything is in place and ready to go."

They went through the communication checks, and everything was working satisfactorily.

"Alright," Sarah said, now in agent mode, "We have no idea what this weapon is, who is going to be bidding on it, or who is selling it. So do not take any unnecessary risks, and take care of yourselves. If something doesn't feel right, just radio us and have Agent Fox take you out of sight." She was now addressing Chuck directly. "Please, be careful," she finished as she reached out and gave his hand a squeeze. It surprised him, but in that brief moment, Chuck realized just how much he missed her, her touch, her blue eyes, everything.

"Don't worry," he assured her, "It'll be a cakewalk." He was curious as to why Sarah was going out her way to talk to him, and wondered if it had anything to do with her talk with Natalie.

The limo pulled to a stop, and Chuck and Natalie made their way into the hotel. Sarah watched him go into the hotel, worried about Chuck. Not having been around him in a long time, she couldn't get a read on him. She always seemed to know what he was thinking, but now, she had no way of knowing. 'What are you planning, Chuck?' she thought, 'And why are you hiding it from me?'

***

A man in a suit was in the security room, standing over the guard who was watching the monitors.

The guard was extremely nervous. It was probably due to the threats made against him and his family by the stranger who was standing behind him. The guard was told to allow the man's team access to the security room and for a signal jammer to be placed in the security room with him, or he and his family would be killed in a very slow and painful manner.

"They are here," the man said happily looking at the monitors. "Once you find his team, report back to me immediately," he said into his radio.

"Yes sir," the radio responded.

***

For over an hour, Chuck and Natalie walked all over the hotel lobby and bar area. There were many people enjoying the evening, and Chuck was sure he had looked over everybody at least once, so he was starting to scan various items they were holding or had on them, hoping that something would trigger a flash.

"Anything Bartowski?" he heard Casey growl into his ear.

"No, Casey, I haven't seen anything. I'll go through once more, but I haven't seen anything."

"Alright, one more sweep, and then we call it a night."

***

"Sir," the radio chirped, "we have found his team. They are in a van parked about a block away. I thought for sure they would be inside with him."

"Ha," said the man, "Even better. Place a bomb under the van to go off in five minutes."

"Yes sir," the radio replied.

The man left the security office and found his second in command standing outside in the hallway. He spoke quietly to his 2IC, "Separate him from his handler." He gave the 2IC a picture of the couple. "Once they are separated, we'll start the jammer to kill any communication between him and his team. Kill the handler when you get the chance, but he is to be taken alive. The bosses wish to know why the CIA and NSA find him so valuable."

The 2IC looked at the picture, looked up and nodded to the man. He then proceeded to the hotel lobby.


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: So sorry about the long delay, especially with the cliffy ending to the last chapter. I've been a little bit sick, plus my Internet was having some problems, of course. I also got a beta, who looked over this chapter for me. We had a few formatting issues when trying to get this thing looked at. It seemed like Murphy's Law was definitely in effect this week. So finally, here it is. Thanks to the TheJusta for his beta work because I'm sure he found things that I know I would have missed._

**Chuck vs. The New Girl **

Chapter 8

Chuck and Natalie were still walking around the hotel lobby. Chuck couldn't understand why he hadn't flashed on anything.

"I think we should go," he whispered to Natalie, getting his mouth so close to her ear that it looked like he might have been kissing it.

The feel of his breath on her ear caused Natalie to shudder. "Are you sure?" she asked. She could see how frustrated he was, not being able to find out anything about the weapon.

"Yeah, let's just call it a ni..."

Chuck was interrupted by a drunk man falling into him and Natalie. The man managed to cover Natalie's dress in his drink which, judging by the red it left all over her, was a Bloody Mary.

Natalie looked like she might kill the man, who was apologizing profusely. "I'll go get cleaned up and meet you out here in five minutes," she said to Chuck.

Chuck still had a hold of the drunk man. "You all right?" Chuck asked him.

"Yeah, yeah, just lost my balance." The man straightened himself up a little and brought his hand to his tie to fix it. Chuck saw his cufflinks and immediately began to flash. Images of Fulcrum, fake leaks of information, and bombs filled his head. The man didn't notice Chuck's flash and walked off.

Chuck quickly pulled his watch up to his mouth. "Casey," he said fast and frantically, "it's a trap. Fulcrum..." was all the farther he got before his earwig went crazy with static. Chuck looked around for Natalie, but instead saw five rather large looking men approaching him. He went through flashes when he saw all of them, confirming his theory that this was indeed a trap. Every single man was Fulcrum. Chuck knew there was nowhere to run, so decided to just stay put.

The five men surrounded him, and Chuck looked around at each of them. "Can I help you with something?" He was trying to stay calm, but his voice cracked a little.

The 2IC finally approached Chuck. "Yes, Mr. Carmichael, you can. Don't worry about your team. They are already dead. You have no chance at escaping. Follow us to my boss' hotel room and answer his questions. You may even be allowed to live, depending on the amount of information you wish to divulge. The choice is entirely up to you." Chuck was too busy looking for an exit strategy that he didn't fully process what was said to him.

The 2IC nodded to one of the goons who stuck a gun into the small of Chuck's back. The group left the hotel lobby and made their way to the elevator.

***

Natalie heard Chuck's frantic cries just as she was entering the bathroom. She heard Chuck say something about a 'trap' and 'Fulcrum' before the feed went dead. She was hiding behind the bathroom door getting her gun ready when the door opened slowly. She saw that a hand holding a gun was the first thing to enter. She quickly put a silencer on her weapon and held it ready to fire. She wasn't sure how many men were coming for her and she didn't want to give away her position to anyone who still might be outside of the door. The man holding a gun came in slowly, trying to see just exactly where he thought Natalie was cleaning herself. The door closed slowly behind him. Natalie, noting that no one followed him in, quickly put two rounds in his back and he crumpled to the floor in a heap. She went over to him, but kept her gun steadied on the door.

She searched his body, but could find no evidence of where Chuck had been taken. She did however take an extra magazine of ammunition and a flashbang. She left his body there, deciding not to try and clean it up before anyone else came in. Her priority was saving Chuck. She cautiously made her way from the bathroom, but spotted no one else keeping an eye on it. She looked around and spotted Chuck being taken by a group of men to the hotel elevators. She quickly moved her way over to the lobby get a good view of the elevators, ignoring the looks she got from other hotel guests about her dress and the complaints they made about their cell phones not working. Natalie hid behind a pillar in the lobby, able to keep an eye on the elevator. She tried to radio Casey and Sarah, but communications were still down. 'I hope they're on the way,' she told herself. If she heard Chuck's warning then so had Sarah and Casey. The little number 11 was lit up above the elevator door indicating where the elevator had finally stopped. Seeing it, Natalie took off running for the stairs.

***

Sarah and Casey were getting everything put back in place because it seemed like the mission was a failure.

"I can't believe Chuck didn't flash on anything," said Sarah. It made her uneasy. With the intel they had, Chuck should have flashed on something by now. "Something's not right."

"Yeah," said Casey, "It's likely he needs another update." He would rather agree with her than argue about Chuck.

"Casey, it's a trap. Fulcrum..." was all Chuck could say before the line went dead.

"What'd he say?" asked Casey quizzically. Chuck spoke so fast that Casey couldn't understand a word of it.

"Something about a trap," Sarah replied hastily, fear in her voice. She opened the van door and jumped down on the pavement, running full speed to the hotel.

Casey quickly followed her as they made their way over to the hotel. They were about 30 feet from the van when it exploded, launching both Casey and Sarah forward and into the pavement. They both lay there, a little dazed by what had happened. Sarah was the first to get up, a little bruised with a scrape across her cheek. She pulled out her GPS locator on Chuck and found that there was no signal. Casey got to his feet somewhat woozy, and tried to radio Fox, but all he got was static.

"They must be blocking all signals going in and out of that place," Casey said, spitting a little blood out of his mouth.

The two of them took off at dead sprints towards the hotel.

***

"Wilson hasn't reported back. I'm going to go see what he's doing," said one of the Fulcrum agents. He left the room which currently held Chuck and six other Fulcrum agents.

"My boss is in the bathroom," said the 2IC, "so, I hope you don't mind waiting a minute." He smiled at Chuck.

"Oh, not at all," said Chuck, going through every scenario in his head in which he could possibly escape. All of them seemed to end up with him dying in some capacity.

***

Natalie was standing just outside the 11th floor in the stairwell, out of breath. She peeked into the hallway to see if there were any guards outside a door. That would most likely be where they were housing Chuck. She saw a large, angry looking man exit the room nearest to the door and got her gun ready. She recognized him as one of the men that took Chuck on the elevator. Instead of taking the stairs, he walked away towards the elevator. Natalie made her way to the door the man had just left, hoping that was where they were holding Chuck. She picked the lock with absurd ease, lit the flash bang and threw it in the room.

***

Casey and Sarah were just outside of the security room for the hotel. They flashed a couple of badges at the front desk and the clerk immediately told them where to go. The clerk thought that the man looked scary, but it was the look in the eyes of the woman that gave him the willies.

Sarah gave Casey a nod as he kicked opened the door to the security room. The lone security guard put his hands in the air when they entered.

"Don't shoot, don't shoot," he pleaded with them.

"Where are they?" Sarah asked, her voice a little too loud for that of an agent on a mission.

"They took your friend to the 11th floor." He had figured out who the mysterious men who threatened him and his family were looking for. "He got separated from the woman he was with and they took him. But she is outside of his room right now. See." He pointed to the screen.

Casey and Sarah looked at the monitors and saw Agent Fox moving her way quietly to a door and was attempting to pick the lock of door 1119. Sarah took off once she got the room number, while Casey, spotting the signal jammer Fulcrum had placed in the security room, destroyed it and then followed her.

***

Chuck was sitting down looking around at the men. They all looked like statues to him, barely moving. All he could see was the rhythmic rising and falling of their chests' as they breathed.

"So, not big talkers I see," Chuck joked as he tried to calm himself. The situation wasn't good and Chuck knew it was matter of time before he ended up like his teammates. 'Oh my God,' he thought, 'Sarah!' He couldn't believe that she was gone. He had completely forgotten about her, about all of them.

Just then, a small explosion and a blinding flash of light filled the room, leaving every man temporarily blinded and disoriented.

Natalie entered the room, hoping to be able to grab Chuck and leave before anyone noticed. She didn't plan on a man being in the bathroom at the time the flashbang went off. She got in quickly, but the man in the bathroom came out and was behind her. He gave her a kick to the side of her right knee which caused her to go down. He then grabbed her by her hair and threw her into the wall, which knocked the wind out of her. She lay there a few seconds trying to gather herself.

Chuck heard the scuffle, but had no idea what was going on. He felt a gun be put into his stomach and then a cold voice said into his ear. "You're coming with me, but I'll leave her for my men." He grabbed Chuck by the arm and led him to the stairs. He was taking him to the underground parking lot.

Natalie was not knocked out like the man had thought, so she was able to see them leave and quietly followed them out of the room and into the stairwell.

Just as the stairwell door closed, Sarah and Casey came out of elevators on the 11th floor. They could see smoke billowing out the room at the end of the hall. They quietly but quickly made their way in that direction. One man stumbled out of the room and was met with four bullets to the chest. He fell to the floor with a loud thud. As the men in the room were starting to get the bearings, Casey and Sarah made their entry. A burst of gunfire from a Mac 10 caused Sarah to dive in the bathroom for cover while Casey took refuge outside of the room. Sarah broke the mirror in the bathroom and carefully poked it outside. She saw two men lying unconscious on the floor, as well as two men taking cover behind a bed. There was no sign of Chuck and Natalie. Sarah relayed her information to Casey as they formulated a plan of attack.

***

Chuck and the man had made it all the way to the underground parking lot, and Natalie was just a few floors behind them, now moving at full speed since Chuck was out of the stairwell. The affects of the flash bang had worn off enough that Chuck was able to finally see and hear straight.

The man had a gun in Chuck back and was leading him to his SUV, which was about 200 feet away. Chuck faked a trip and fell into a car, causing the car alarm to go off. The man let out a sigh.

"That really annoys me, you know," said the man. He pulled the gun away from Chuck's back and prepared to strike him. Chuck felt the gun leave his back and decided to make his move. He turned around quickly, knocking the man's gun arm away before giving him a kick in the groin. Not very sporting, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Chuck then ran and took cover between some cars as he heard the sound of bullets meeting car.

Natalie had heard the car alarm going off and knew Chuck was trying to give away his position. She deftly made her way between the rows of cars, trying to pinpoint exactly where Chuck was.

She was moving quietly when she heard laughter 50 yards to her left. She ran in that direction and saw that Chuck and the man were in an aisle between the rows of parked cars. Chuck was standing about 10 yards in front of the man. The man had his gun pointed at Chuck and was laughing.

"I must say," said the man, "your team really is the best. I thought our plan was perfect and that we would have you as easy as pie. But no matter, we have you and that is all that is important."

Natalie took a firing spot behind a Mustang and fired once at the man. She hit him in the upper chest, by his clavicle. He fell to the ground and lay still. Once the gunfire started, Chuck hit the deck. He looked up and saw Natalie standing over him with a smile on her face.

"So, finally get that release you were looking for?" Chuck asked, grateful that she was alive and he was safe.

She was smiling at him. "Yeah, for the most part, but it was..." but her speech was interrupted as she was hit with a pair of bullets that entered her back and exited her through her stomach and chest, peppering Chuck's face with drops of the warm, red liquid. She had a surprised look on her face as she fell to her knees and then into Chuck's lap. Chuck looked and saw the man had his gun raised and was continuing to pull the trigger even though no bullets were coming out. The man finally stopped and his arm fell to the floor.

***

Casey took out a small explosive and threw it to the back of the room, which caused a smattering of gunfire to be directed his way. The plan was that the explosive would either incapacitate them, kill them or force them into a killing zone that Sarah had set up. The men saw the explosive and made their way to the other side of the room for cover. As they did so, Sarah cut each man down with a head shot. The explosive detonated leaving a crater in the wall and the floor.

Casey pulled out his cell and made a call. "This is Casey. We need a clean up crew at my location, ASAP." He closed the phone. "Where is Chuck?" he asked Sarah quickly.

Sarah had gotten up and was taking out her GPS locator. She spotted Chuck. His position was still. "He is in the underground parking garage."

"Go," said Casey, "I'll deal with this." Casey said it like it was an order, but there was nothing that was going to keep Sarah from going to Chuck. 'Don't be dead,' she thought, 'Please don't be dead.'

***

Chuck was holding Natalie tight. Her skin was becoming milky white and Chuck knew she didn't have long.

"Don't worry," he said, pushing his hand down harder on her stomach wound. "You'll make it."

"Chuck," she choked out, blood dribbling out of her mouth, "I..I love you."

Chuck was aghast at her comment. He couldn't believe it. Never in a million years did he believe that she would fall for him. "I love you too," he lied. It seemed like the right thing to say. She managed a smile at him and he kissed her forehead. Their eyes were locked as he held her close. Then her eyes filled with tears as she knew this was the last time she was going to be with Chuck Bartowski. Chuck had tears streaming down his face. She looked like she wanted to say something. "Shh," Chuck comforted her. "I'll always be here." With that, her eyes closed and her head fell to the side.

Natalie Fox was dead.

The man who shot her started to groan as he came around. This got Chuck's attention and it filled him with uncontrollable rage. He was still alive and Natalie was dead. He gently lay Natalie's head on the pavement. He stood and took a huge sniff, wiping his nose on his sleeve. He bent down and grabbed Natalie's gun. After a deep breath to calm himself, he walked over to the man who was still groaning in pain.

"Who leaked the false information? Who set my team up?" he asked the man. His voice was steady even though his hands were shaking.

The man noticed his hands shaking and laughed. "Like you'll shoot me." He was mistaking the shaking hands being caused by fear, not rage.

Chuck took the gun, pointed it at the man's left foot and fired. The man's screams filled the garage as the bullet penetrated his foot. His screams were so loud that Chuck didn't hear Sarah approaching from behind, gun drawn. She stopped when she saw that it was Chuck's profile standing over the man, holding the gun. She couldn't believe what she had seen.

"Who leaked it?" Chuck asked again.

The man didn't respond, but continued to moan in agony. Chuck pointed the gun at the right foot and fired. The man's screams again filled the garage.

"Who?" Chuck asked even more firmly.

"I don't know," croaked the man. Chuck shook his head, leaned down and put the tip of the gun to the man's left knee and fired. The man was in extreme pain. His screams only enraged Chuck more, because it was evidence that he was still alive.

"You have a lot of joints left," Chuck stated in a hollow voice. "I suggest you tell me what I want to know, cause I'll keep on going." He placed the gun tip at the man's right knee.

"Fine," the man spat, "it was Deputy Director Reed. He knew about your team, how successful you were. He was the one who leaked the information to draw you out."

"Is Reed Fulcrum?"

"Yes," the man said. Chuck pulled the gun away from his right knee and stood up. The man let out sigh. This angered Chuck to no end. This man was still breathing, still alive and Natalie was dead. He was the reason she was dead. Chuck decided he was going to vindicate her death, make the score equal.

Chuck stood up and pointed the gun at the man's head.

"No," pleaded the man, "No, I helped you."

"CHUCK, NO!" Sarah screamed. She hadn't moved while watching Chuck torture the man. It was like watching a train wreck. All she could do was stare. When he raised the gun to finish the man off, her senses finally started working again. She ran over to Chuck to stop him. It was then that she noticed Fox was dead on the pavement, which caused her gasp and somewhat understand Chuck's reaction.

Chuck looked over his shoulder and saw Sarah. She could see the blood, tears and dirt that were all over his face. He seemed to finally understand what he had done and was about to do.

"Sarah," Chuck croaked, relieved she was alive, but also ashamed of what she had seen him do. "Sarah, I'm sorry." He handed her the gun. "Some Reed guy is Fulcrum and.."

Sarah interrupted him, "I know, I heard." She couldn't look at Chuck, not after what he had just done and was about to do.

Chuck noticed Sarah avoiding his eyes and silently made his way over to Natalie's body. He took off his jacket and covered her. He sat down next to her body, buried his face in his hands, and finally succumbed to the emotions that threatened to escape him since Natalie had died in his arms.


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: Well, to those who are still reading, here it is. The conclusion, of sorts. I have really enjoyed all the reviews. It's all that I get out of this. No residuals heading my way. Thanks to TheJusta for the beta. Any mistakes are still mine, although I'm sure there are fewer than before._

**Chuck vs. The New Girl**

Chapter 9

Everything was a blur. Chuck continued to sit by Natalie's body. The lights from police cars and ambulances flooded the underground parking lot. There were men in dark suits and sunglasses talking on phones. Chuck was looking around. His senses seemed numb. He couldn't believe that Natalie was dead. The only thing he felt was an ache somewhere in his stomach. He was so distraught that he didn't even acknowledge Casey or Sarah when they stood in front of him letting him know what the cover was for the situation.

"Chuck, are you listening?" Sarah asked him. She had seen him just staring straight ahead, completely lost in his thoughts.

"Huh?" said Chuck. He looked up. He was somewhat surprised to find Casey and Sarah standing in front of him.

"The cover is that a carjacker attacked you both. Fox was shot and killed and the carjacker got away," Casey finished. He felt sorry for Chuck. Casey knew what it was like to have someone die in your arms. It wasn't something that was easy to deal with.

Chuck looked back at the ground. 'Carjacker,' he thought. 'Never the truth, never.'

"Chuck," said Sarah softly, "we have to go back to Castle and brief Beckman on what happened. Come on." She reached out to help him up, but he pushed himself up rather than take her hand.

"Of course," said Chuck, "I would hate to keep the good general waiting." He was annoyed and angry. All he wanted to do was be alone, to do anything to escape the current situation. But of course General Beckman didn't care. The Intersect was all that mattered to her, feelings or people be damned.

Sarah and Casey exchanged worried glances. They had no idea what would happen when Chuck was put in front of the general. A little anxious, they followed Chuck to an SUV that was waiting to take them to the Orange Orange.

***

Sarah and Casey had been retelling the night's activities to General Beckman for about 15 minutes. They had done all of the talking so far, as they did not want Chuck speaking directly with Beckman. Chuck was slightly amused at the fact that he hadn't been addressed or allowed to speak.

"Well, Reed has been taken into custody," Beckman stated, finishing up the teleconference, "and while the loss of Agent Fox is unfortunate..."

"Unfortunate," Chuck muttered, throwing his hands into the air.

"Is there something you would like to add?" Beckman asked Chuck. Sarah and Casey both groaned, knowing that this was going to end badly.

"Oh," said Chuck, acting in mock surprise at his involvement in the conversation. "Nothing. I mean, unfortunate really is the best way to describe the loss of a human being. Who cares, right? You certainly don't."

Beckman's eyes narrowed, Sarah grimaced, and Casey just shook his head. They waited for the explosion. "Listen, Mr. Bartowski...", but she was interrupted by Chuck.

"Spare me the semantics. You don't care about Natalie just like you don=t care about me."

"Bartowski, your safety has been our top concern since day one," said an angry Beckman.

Chuck laughed at this. "My safety? You mean the Intersect's safety. You could give a rat's ass what happens to me, the person."

Apparently Beckman had heard enough. "The asset is to be kept in Castle under 24 hour supervision until the threat from Fulcrum can be addressed." The screen went black.

Chuck, who was now wired, immediately got up from the table. He was walking around, looking for something that would allow him to vent his frustration. Sarah, mistaking this as an attempt at freedom, put a hand on his shoulder. Instinctively, Chuck reacted, and before Chuck or Sarah knew what had happened, Sarah was on the ground clutching her stomach from the blow Chuck had delivered. Their eyes met. Chuck's were full of shock while Sarah's were full of concern.

Sarah had no idea what to think. She watched Chuck torture and nearly murder a man, and now he had just hit her. The Chuck she knew would never do any of that.

"Who are you?" she asked looking at him.

Chuck turned away. He thought for a moment before saying, with fear in his voice, "I don=t know anymore." With his back to Sarah, he went into a cell, taking a seat upon the cold floor.

***

Chuck was allowed a phone call to Ellie to explain what had happened and why he was going to be gone for the next couple of days. Casey was in the room with him when he made the call, making sure he told her that Natalie died at the hands of a carjacker, and not the truth. Chuck, who seemed on edge all the time now, put it on speaker before giving Casey a look that said, 'Just so you can hear her too.'

The two days in Castle were the worst days of Chuck's life. All he did was lie on the floor. He did not want to become too comfortable and fall asleep. He knew sleep would bring nightmares, and nightmares would bring back images of Natalie's death. With only two bathroom breaks, he spent nearly two days on his back. He was refusing food. He had no appetite. His whole situation made him sick.

Ever since the hospital he was working on his plan. He knew it was the only way he could free himself from the Intersect. The refresher was just a reminder that Beckman wasn't going to let him go. Natalie's death had now moved up the date of the next part of his plan. He was planning to run and find the creator of the Intersect to free himself from this hell.

Distancing himself from Sarah had always been the first part of his plan. He knew that he could never make a break for it with her always around. He had hoped she would ask for a reassignment. It would have made things so much easier. But now with Natalie's death, Chuck realized he had to run no matter what. His work was constantly bringing death and destruction closer and closer to home. If it were Ellie or Morgan who had died, he wouldn't know what to do. But Natalie's death was the springboard that made this his top priority.

He was going to have to play nice with Beckman. He knew it and hated it. He was also going to have to get close to Sarah again, allow her to feel comfortable enough to let her guard down a little bit with him. For once, Chuck was going to control his emotions. They were no longer going to run him. If he wanted the chance to fight for his freedom, he'd have to start acting like an agent.

Chuck already had things ready in the event he had to run. Ever since the incident with the marlin, he decided that he would not let himself be put in a bunker. He would rather die trying to escape the Intersect than live the rest of his life underground.

Chuck had a whole new identity package hidden at Morgan's. He didn't trust Casey and Sarah enough to leave it at his place. He flashed on a guy who provided false documents for people. Using this knowledge, Chuck was able to get himself a new identity if the need should arise. He also got the guy arrested, as he provided documents to terrorists and other evil doers. The last thing he would need before he ran was cash. His savings account had a little money in it, but he needed a lot more if he was going to go off grid.

It was Sunday night, day two of his incarceration in Castle, and Chuck was still lying on the floor. The doors to the cell opened and Casey walked in.

"Meeting with Beckman in five. You might wanna watch your mouth this time," he grunted. Casey looked at Chuck who was still staring at the ceiling, not acknowledging Casey or his comments. Casey then walked away.

After four minutes of readying himself for Beckman, Chuck got up and walked out to sit at his usual spot in the table. General Beckman appeared on the screen.

"It appears that Reed did not know anything about the Intersect. All he knew was we had a highly successful and important team in the area. However, given the depth of Fulcrum's penetration, the Intersect will have to have a refresh, or else," she added menacingly.

'A threat,' thought Chuck, 'how original.'

"That is fine," said Chuck, causing Sarah and Casey to look at him in surprise. They both were expecting more fireworks between Chuck and Beckman. "On one condition. I wish to be paid for my work for the government."

The general was eyeing him suspiciously. She expected another rant from Chuck. He must have decided to play nice. Having to pay him was a small price in order to having a functioning Intersect in the field.

"Done. Also, it looks like it will be you three again. A four person team was obviously drawing too much attention, so the old covers will be put back in place. You and Agent Walker will resume your cover relationship." The screen went black.

Sarah had a small grin on her face when it was announced that her and Chuck were going to be cover dating again. She looked at Chuck, but was surprised to see him staring at the table. Heaving a huge sigh, and without looking at Sarah or Casey, Chuck got up and went home.

***

Chuck had called in sick to work for the third straight day. He just didn't want to face the real world. It had been bad enough having to endure Ellie about this whole ordeal, but having to go through it again at work was going to be just as bad. The only thing that was keeping him alive was the plan he had to save himself. But everyday it seemed like the pain from Natalie's death was going to extinguish the little flame that was burning inside him.

His first night back home he couldn't sleep in his room. His bed smelled like her. She had spent the night enough that her scent had seeped in. He had to open all his windows and wash the sheets. It was just too painful a reminder of just how ingrained into his life she was, and how she was gone.

The little sleep he got at night was often interrupted by nightmares of Natalie's death. The dark circles that were forming under his eyes, along with the weight he was losing by barely eating, caused Ellie to grow concerned. He knew that getting back together with Sarah would make Ellie happy, but he was putting off that moment until he was ready. The plan was to rekindle over Natalie's death. She would comfort him when he came in one day for yogurt and things would be back to normal. He just wasn't ready to face that yet.

After lying in his bed staring at the ceiling for a few hours, deep in thought, Chuck decided that he would follow through on the promise he made to himself. First, he needed to make things right with Sarah. That was the most important thing. He quickly threw on some clothes and grabbed the keys to the Herder.

The drive to Sarah's was shorter than he expected, probably because he was making the trip in the dead of night instead of in the middle of the day. He made his way up to her room and knocked on the door.

Sarah answered the door and upon seeing Chuck, heaved a sigh of relief. She was wearing an old Stanford shirt she took from Chuck's closet for a night shirt and her underwear. She was also holding her gun. "Chuck, what are you doing here? It's the middle of the night." She didn't sound happy.

"I know," Chuck started, but hearing her annoyance caused him to shrink a little. "You know what? I think I'll just go." He made to turn away to leave but she took his hand and led him into the room.

She turned on the lamp on her nightstand and took a seat on the edge of the bed next to Chuck.

"Look, I'm sorry about the way I acted in Castle the other day. It's just that Beckman got me all fired up and then it was just instinct. You know, the training."

Sarah smiled at this. "It was a pretty good move you had. Took me by surprise."

Chuck smiled at her smile. "You remember what you asked me?"

She looked at him, studying his face. "Who are you?"

Chuck looked in her eyes. "I'm Chuck. Just Chuck. But I feel like sometimes I'm losing myself and becoming Carmichael."

Sarah lifted her hand and ran it through his hair. 'God,' she thought, 'I missed this so much.'

"Look, Chuck, I know what you went through was difficult, but I'm here for you. If you ever need to talk, I'll be a good listener." She smiled at him.

"It's just, all I think about is how the last thing I told her was a lie. She was dying in my arms and I lied to her. The worst lie ever." Chuck was becoming choked up recalling it. His eyes were watering up, and he looked away from Sarah.

"What did you say?" She was watching him closely, barely breathing.

"She told me she loved me, and I told her I loved her too. And I didn't, and it's all I think about." The guilt Chuck was feeling caused him to bury his face in his hands. 'Control your emotions,' he told himself. 'Be in control for once.'

"Are you sure you didn't love her?" Sarah didn't want to sound insensitive, but she needed to know.

"I mean, yeah, I loved her like I love Morgan. She was a great friend. But I wasn't in love with her. There is only one person who I've ever been in love with." He picked up his head and met her eyes, which were watering. Sarah couldn't help but be relieved, and a little angry.

"Then why did you push me away. I begged you not to." Sarah started to cry. 'He still loves me,' she thought, 'after everything that's happened.'

Chuck just stared at her. "I don't know. Honestly, I don't. I thought it would be easier with you gone. You could go off doing what you love and I wouldn't always be so worried about you or us. I could focus on the job and maybe survive this damn thing." He paused. "But then Natalie came along. She was a great friend, things were going well and next thing I know she's dead." He started looking around for no particular reason. Sarah could see he was lost.

Even though her vision was obscured by tears, she was still able to find his lips. The kiss was soft, but it was one of the best they had shared. Chuck broke the kiss, but their foreheads were still touching. Both had their eyes closed.

"I've missed you so much, you know that?" Chuck said.

"I know. I've missed you too. But Chuck, I have to ask you. What were you planning on doing? I mean, the new partner, the training. You are planning something?" Her arms were around his neck, but she pulled back a little to see his face, and the nervousness in his features confirmed to her that he was indeed planning something.

'She knows,' thought Chuck nervously. He saw a brief amount of triumph on her face when she saw his reaction. 'Shit, now she definitely knows because I gave it away.' Chuck decided to go on the offensive, rather than playing defense.

"Do you trust me, Sarah?" Chuck asked. He was looking at her, and his tone was serious.

"Chuck..." she started, but Chuck shook his head.

"Look, Sarah. You asked me that first night to trust you. I'm asking you to do the same. I know I'm not supposed to hide anything, but there are certain things that I just don't want to share. I know it sounds like I don't trust you, but I do. I trust you and Casey with my life." Chuck told her the truth, or as much as he wanted to share. "So, do you trust me?"

Sarah looked at Chuck for a few moments. He was planning something. This response was evidence of that. She hated being kept in the dark about things like these, just like when he first requested a new partner. Maybe that's why she liked Chuck so much, she knew all his secrets. There was nothing that was going to surprise her. But now he was asking her to trust him. The agent side of her was demanding to know what Chuck was planning, but her girl side wanted to trust Chuck, because she loved him enough to do that.

"Yes, Chuck, I do." But Sarah wanted to make it very clear that she would never abandon or betray him. "But know this. I will always be there for you. If you ever need help, I will do anything and everything I can to help you. You can trust me." She was staring straight into his eyes, hoping that he was getting the message.

It was one of the few times Chuck didn't lose himself when he stared into her eyes. 'She would do anything,' he thought, 'but I won't let her.'

"I know, and I do. Thank you so much Sarah."

He pulled her into a hug, and knowing she wouldn't be able to see his face, allowed himself a small smile, the first real one in a long time. Chuck was actually happy about his current situation. 'This might actually work,' he told himself.

When they broke their hug, the animosity between the two vanished, almost as if the previous eight weeks never happened. Chuck then tried to stifle a huge yawn. Sarah smiled when we did.

"Alright, time for bed," she said as she made her way under the covers.

"Okay, see you tomorrow," Chuck said as he got ready to leave.

"No, Chuck, you're staying here." She was positively glowing. "Look, I know you haven't been sleeping well." He looked at her quizzically. "The nightmares. They affect everyone. But I find that when you have a snuggle buddy, they aren't as bad." She really wanted Chuck to stay, to feel him next to her. She wasn't going to miss another opportunity to be close to him.

Chuck sighed. He knew he shouldn't, out of respect to Natalie, but it was Sarah. He stripped down to his boxers and his undershirt and climbed under the covers. Sarah scuttled up close to him, remembering how good it felt to be near him when they occasionally stayed the night together. 'We need to do this more often,' she thought. Her back was lying against Chuck's chest, and she could feel his heart beat along with the rhythmic rising and falling of his chest when he breathed. Chuck had an arm wrapped around her middle, and Sarah placed her hand on his, interlocking their fingers.

"I love you."

A pause.

"I love you too."

The End

_A/N 2: I am working on a sequel for this, called Chuck vs. The Grid. It's about, as you can probably tell, Chuck on the run.  
_


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